Irish Divorce Vote Faces Likely Test
A right-wing group said Monday that it will take legal action to overturn a weekend referendum that narrowly legalized divorce in this Roman Catholic country.
“You can assume there will be a constitutional action mounted,” Richard Green of Muintir na hEireann said.
The vote was won by a tiny margin of 9,000, highlighting a deep split between liberal Dublin and other towns that voted for the change and rural areas that heeded Roman Catholic Church opposition to it.
Muintir na hEireann said it would base its challenge on a Supreme Court ruling 10 days ago that said the government had misspent taxpayers’ money to advertise the referendum.
That ruling said the government’s decision to spend $750,000 favored the yes vote and was unconstitutional.
After the ruling, the government immediately stopped spending money to advertise the campaign, but most of the cash had already been spent, government spokesmen said.
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