Should divorce be made simpler once again? 

The topic of marital breakup has a long and fraught history in Ireland - dating back to when Parnell’s affair with a married woman scandalised society. 

Irish couples were granted the right to divorce in 1995 but had to have lived for at least four–years apart before they could apply. 

At the time, opponents of divorce feared its introduction would mean chaos within Irish society and devalue the meaning of marriage. 

As a result, the amendment was designed to legalise divorce - but reassure people that it would be difficult to obtain. 

“If you remember, the divorce referendum was literally passed by a whisker - a tiny number of votes and in 1996 we got divorce for the first time,” family law solicitor Keith Walsh told The Pat Kenny Show. 

“That was done on the condition that you had to be living separately [for] four out of the previous five-years. 

“Then about six-years ago, there was initially a private member’s bill by Josepha Madigan, who was a Fine Gael TD at the time, which proposed to reduce the waiting time from four-years to two-years.”

Josepha Madigan. Picture by: PA Archive/PA Images.

The 38th amendment to the Constitution handed the Oireachtas the power to regulate divorce. 

TDs decided that two-years apart was an appropriate period of reflection before a couple could divorce. 

Still, Mr Walsh believes there are two “very good reasons” for society to cut that period down to one-year. 

“Number one, cost,” he said. 

“Currently, if you want to get married before the two-years are legally up, you have to get a process called judicial or a legal separation and that’s very similar to a divorce - except you can’t get remarried. 

“So, you’re doing something potentially twice just because you need to do it quickly.” 

Mr Walsh said reducing the timeframe to one year would make things cheaper for those who are divorcing and the taxpayer. 

“[There is a] cost to the State - or the judges and their time and the court’s time,” he said. 

“If you’ve two duplicate systems and you only need one, well why incur all those additional costs? 

“The family law judges could be much better employed dealing with the backlogs in all the courts.” 

Benefits of marriage

For those who cite the cost of divorce as a reason not to get married, Mr Walsh noted that a wedding certificate does still give couples important rights in the eyes of the law. 

“We do have a Cohabitants Act which dates from 2010 and there’s a small degree of protection for cohabitants - particularly in the case of death of one of the two cohabitants - you can now make a claim on the estate of the other,” he said. 

“But it leaves in a much reduced position for fathers who are not married, they don’t have the same rights as married fathers. 

“For mothers who are not married, they don’t necessarily have the same rights to maintenance as married mothers.”

In 2023, some 23,000 people got married in Ireland.

Main image: A bride and groom kissing in a forest. Picture by: Westend61 GmbH / Alamy.com.