While three in five people have said they plan to vote yes in both upcoming referendums, activists have warned not to be "complacent".

The latest Business Post/Red C poll found that three in five Irish people are going to vote yes in both the referendum on March 8th to change the definition of the family and the role of women as carers. 

Among all eligible voters, 59% of people said they would vote in favour of changing the wording of the role of women as carers, compared to 20% of people who would oppose it. 

Some 55% of eligible voters said they would vote yes to change the definition of family to something based on marriage to being based on durable relationships. 23% said they would not support the change. 

Voting 'Yes Yes'

The National Women’s Council (NWC) said, 12 days ahead of the referendum, campaigning from both sides will ramp up.  

NWC Director Orla O’Connor urged people to remove the “sexist” language that currently exists in the Constitution. 

“We encourage all voters to really think; do we want our young women and girls growing up in an Ireland where the Constitution still tells them that their primary place, indeed their ‘life’ is in the home?,” she said. 

“While the proposed wording should have gone further, this will give us and other civil society organisations a real platform to campaign for the practical supports and changes in relation to care that we so urgently need. 

“We know that we cannot be complacent.” 

Single parent organisation Treoir CEO Damien Peelo said the referendum on March 8th is “a historic opportunity to shape our future and the future of our children”. 

“The family referendum is our chance to recognise all families equally, while still protecting marriage.” 

Anti-referendum campaign

Following the release of the poll, however, Senator Michael McDowell questioned the legitimacy of the support for the referendums. 

He claimed that ahead of the referendum to abolish the Seanad in 2013, polls indicated wide support, even though the referendum then failed. 

“The people who wanted to keep the senate came out to support it,” he told The Anton Savage Show. 

He claimed that the Business Post poll is inaccurate on account of predicted turnout. 

“All but 5% of people said they intend on voting,” he said. “That's never the case – we're not going to have a 95% turnout.” 

It must be noted that the 5% of people that don’t plan on voting that Mr McDowell referred to was from the question about how people would vote in the referendum about women’s care duties rather than a question of strict turnout. 

In this category, 21% of respondents said they do not know how they will vote. 

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