Ireland votes to remove blasphemy from its Constitution

Every single one of the 40 constituencies in Ireland voted to remove the word “blasphemous” from article 40.6.1 of the Constitution in a unanimity unique in recent Irish referendums. [ . . . ] Welcoming the result, Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan said it had always been his view “that there is no room for a provision such as this in our Constitution”. He said: “Ireland is rightly proud of our reputation as a modern, liberal society. The world has watched in recent years as we have taken landmark decisions as a people to change our Constitution with regard to some of the deepest personal matters when we voted Yes to marriage equality and to repealing the Eighth Amendment.” He added: “We have again sent a message to the world, a strong message that laws against blasphemy do not reflect Irish values and that we do not believe such laws should exist.”
Read the full article here: The Irish Times