Ireland Forever and Ever

By Pico Iyer

For more than a month, throughout the Republic of Ireland, newspapers were occupied, minds preoccupied, with the bitterly divisive issue. From lyrical Killarney in the south to impoverished Ballybunion in the west, hand-lettered signs dotted street corners with a single simple message: VOTE NO. In Dublin's Parnell Square, demonstrators waved placards that mockingly read, DOES DIVORCE WORK? ASK LIZ TAYLOR. Not far away, several women, trapped in unhappy marriages, chained themselves to the railings of parliament. Bishops decried the proposal from pulpits, while the country's most influential paper, The Irish Times, defended it. Everywhere, the debate raged on: Should Ireland permit divorce?

The final answer last week was a thundering no when 1.4 million of the republic's 3.5 million citizens went to the polls to vote on a constitutional amendment that would have changed the 49-year-old prohibition against divorce. The proposal was defeated by a thumping 63% to 36%. In rural areas the amendment was put down by as much as 8 to 1.

The outcome dealt a humiliating blow to the already wobbly ruling coalition headed by Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald, who had personally led the campaign in favor of divorce. It also sealed the country's own marriage to the Roman Catholic Church and set back hopes of a closer alliance with Northern Ireland, the republic's predominantly Protestant neighbor. Said Pro-Divorce Activist Margaret Geaney, choking back tears: "The majority has spoken and said, 'We don't give a damn about you.' "

Throughout the campaign, supporters of the amendment stressed humanitarian issues, pointing to the suffering of an estimated 70,000 Irish couples saddled with untenable marriages. Under present law, husband and wife must either endure their life together, however unpleasant, or unofficially separate. The latter course brings further problems: since children born of other unions will be illegitimate, inheritances will go not to them but to the legal spouse, however long separated. The amendment would have permitted couples to divorce after they showed that their marriage had failed for five years and that there was no hope for its rescue.

Defenders of the wedding bond highlighted the plight of the divorced spouse. They played upon the fears of countryfolk, especially women, stranded in economically ravaged areas, where unemployment is often well over 50%. One study cited by Alice Glenn, a breakaway member of parliament from FitzGerald's Fine Gael party, revealed that 93% of divorced women with children in the U.S. live below the poverty line. "A woman voting for divorce," Glenn often repeated, "is like a turkey voting for Christmas."

Opponents of the amendment also scored heavily by stressing that divorced spouses could lose their property as well as inheritance rights to their land. That struck a raw nerve in a country that is still 40% agricultural. "If there's one thing an Irish farmer loves more than his wife," said an Irish farmer, "it's his farm."

For its part, the Catholic Church officially remained relatively low-keyed during the referendum campaign. But when the going got tough, so did some of the clergy. "God says no to divorce," pronounced Bishop Jeremiah Newman of Limerick.

The defeat of the amendment means that the Irish Republic is one of only a handful of countries in the world where divorce is still illegal. Malta and the Philippines are others. The setback weakens FitzGerald's chances of re- election in 1987. Though the opposition Fianna Fail party remained neutral on the referendum, it made clear its opposition to the amendment. The Prime Minister's failure to legalize divorce could thus hasten his departure from power.

With reporting by Christopher Ogden/Killarney