Ireland looks set to reject constitutional changes

DUBLIN: Ireland looked set to reject proposals to replace constitutional references to the makeup of a family and women’s “life within the home” when votes are counted on Saturday, in what would be a significant defeat for the government.

Regina Doherty, a lawmaker for the Fine Gael party which rules in coalition with Fianna Fail and the Green Party, told national broadcaster RTE that early tallies from Friday’s poll indicated the Irish people had voted “in a very large way” against the proposals in two referendums, called the family amendment and the care amendment.

The first asked citizens to expand the definition of family from a relationship founded on marriage to also include other durable relationships, whether founded on marriage or not.