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New Viral Video Asks Do All Families Matter in Ireland?

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Press Release

New Viral Video Asks

Do All Families Matter in Ireland?

(Dublin, 14 May 2014) Eight national organisations interested in promoting equality for all families have released an innovative video that shows how the Constitution of Ireland excludes many types of families. All Families Matter is a campaigning coalition that would like to change the Constitution so that all types of families can be respected.

Tomorrow, 15 May, is UN International Day of Families and this year we also celebrate the 20th anniversary of UN International Year of the Family so it is timely to think about what family means.

This two minute video presents a series of everyday situations in which three ordinary families are told they are ‘not a real family’ because only one kind of family, the marital family, is represented in our Constitution. A quirky, fun and enjoyable video, it explores scenarios featuring a one-parent family, parents who are not married to each other, and same-sex parents to illustrate how the wording of our Constitution is so clearly out of line with the reality of the lives of hundreds of thousands of families in Ireland.

The members of All Families Matter include One Family, Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), Barnardos, the Family Resource Centre National Forum, Marriage Equality, New Communities Partnership (NCP), Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) and Treoir. They came together over a shared belief that a Constitutional review of how family is defined is required so that all families feel protected and recognised.

We all know and care about families like those represented in the video. All Families Matter calls on everyone to watch and share the video and to ask themselves, what really makes a family and isn’t it time the Irish Constitution reflected the lived reality of our families?

The video can be viewed here.

On Sunday 18 May, founding All Families Matter member organisation One Family hosts its annual free Family Day Festival in the Iveagh Gardens, Dublin 2 from 11am-5pm. Many of the All Families Matter members will be in attendance at the event and available to share information about it and their work. Further information on www.familyday.ie.

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Further Information

Facebook: @AllFamiliesMatterIreland | #AllFamiliesMatter

Twitter: @FamiliesIreland | #AllFamiliesMatter

www.allfamiliesmatter.ie

Available for Interview

  • One Family CEO Karen Kiernan | t: 086 850 9191

For Video Files or Further Information

Shirley Chance, Director of Communications, One Family | t: 01 662 9212 or 087 414 8511 | e: schance@onefamily.ie

 

 

 

Time for Constitutional Review of the Family

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“The Constitution that governs our country was published back in 1937 and Irish family and social life has changed radically since then. Unfortunately the Constitution has not changed in tandem with this and is now woefully out-of-step with the reality of life for many children and families in Ireland because it doesn’t recognise them as families,” writes One Family’s CEO Karen Kiernan in today’s TheJournal.ie.

Karen discusses All Families Matter, the campaigning coalition calling for a review of the Family in our Constitution, and outlines the reasons a Constitutional review of the family is needed.  Anyone can make an online submission to the Convention this week. Members of the Convention will decide by online poll within the next week what new areas they will look at in February at their final scheduled meeting. It is still possible to lobby political members, make online submissions or attend the last regional meeting today, Wednesday 27 November,  in Limerick to ask them to review the family.

Read the column in TheJournal.ie here.

Click here to find out more about All Families Matter and how to make an online submission.

One Family calls for national debate on what family means

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Press Release

Let’s make Family Day meaningful for all families –

the Constitution is out of step with reality, it’s time for change

(Dublin, Tuesday 14 May) Tomorrow, Wednesday 15 May is UN International Day of the Family and One Family, Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families, calls for a national debate on what family means in Ireland today.

One Family CEO Karen Kiernan explained: “We are asking the Constitutional Convention to build on the good work that they have been doing and add an additional item to their agenda to look at Articles 41 and 42 which deal with the family. In particular a review of Article 41.3.1° would support some of the other issues already debated such as same sex marriage and women’s role.”

One Family has consistently called to have the Constitution expanded to recognise and protect all kinds of families and not just the marital family since its establishment in 1972 as Cherish. This issue was examined by the All Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution in their Tenth Progress Report on the Family which was published in 2006. Due to fears of divisiveness no recommendations for change were made in relation to a referendum on the definition of the family.

Kiernan further comments: “The Constitution is clearly out of step with today’s society, family life and demographics as 1/3 of all births are to parents not married to each other, 1 in 5 children live in a one-parent family and same-sex families are on the increase. To mark this and to celebrate the great family diversity that exists in Ireland today, One Family will host our third major event marking Family Day this Sunday in Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens.”

Notes:

  • Article 41.3.1° states that “[t]he State pledges itself to guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the Family is founded”.
  • Family Day, presented by One Family and EBS, is a national celebration calling on families all over Ireland to celebrate their family and celebrate family diversity on 19 May.
  • As well as a free, fun Family Day picnic with entertainment, workshops, sports and more on Sunday 19 May in the Iveagh Gardens, Dublin 2 from 11am-5pm, children around the country can enter an art competition on the theme of “My Family is …”
  • Full information on www.familyday.ie

About One Family

One Family was founded in 1972 and is Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families offering support, information and services to all members of all one-parent families, to those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and to those working with one-parent families. Children are at the centre of One Family’s work and the organisation helps all the adults in their lives, including mums, dads, grandparents, step-parents, new partners and other siblings, offering a holistic model of specialist family support services. These services include the lo-call askonefamily national helpline on 1890 622 212, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. One Family also promotes Family Day, an annual celebration of the diversity of families in Ireland today, with events taking place this year on 19 May (www.familyday.ie). For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie.

Available for Interview

Karen Kiernan, CEO of One Family | t: 01 662 9212 or 086 850 9191