I very much support the scrapping of the means test for carers allowance. If it happens it must not be allowed to continue to defray the states responsibility to support people to live independently (with supports as required). It can’t be the answer to the no vote to #CareRef.

It feels like v little was learned from the contributions that were made during the #CareRef. A senior minister for disability would be very welcome, but across the board there were missed opportunities. How a system talks about disability can tell us so much about a society 4/4 #GE24

Any voting cards issued yet for #ge24. Lots of smiley faces on poles, and leaflets in letterboxes, but voting card seems will be close to the wire

Hope all the #carers and people who voted down the horribly worded #careref get their vote out

#carers not taking any more shit in the post #careref landscape. All parties should be feeling this anger..... not just Simon.....

#Disability #Ireland #CareRef #Ref24 #SpeirGorm

Short 🧵

Now that the #CareRef has been drastically defeated, it might be a good time for some positive spin for @FineGael and @fiannafailparty to put Complex Needs back as a category in the new SET Allocations. Eh @NormaFoleyTD1? #EDUSky

Now that the #CareRef has been drastically defeated, it might be a good time for some positive spin for @FineGael and @fiannafailparty to put Complex Needs back as a category in the new SET Allocations. Eh @NormaFoleyTD1?

The referendum result is not a defeat for people with disabilities, carers, women or families.This is a defeat for the government, and the entire political class - including opposition - that backed yes/yes from the beginning of this referendum. The failure to make strong, clear proposals that gave people rights, status and resources is why people have rejected these amendments. The family amendment was an opportunity to fully reflect that we have moved on from a church state, but the government fluffed it. The care amendment particularly was a cynical abdication of the state’s responsibility to carers and people with disabilities.

They did not listen to the citizen’s assembly, they did not listen to people with disabilities and carers who told them it made matters worse rather than better. They now must listen to the message they have been given, that people expect care to be a responsibility of the state and that basic legal rights regarding relationships should not have to be sought in court. My party, Rabharta, the party for workers and carers, made these points during the campaign and we want to continue to engage with workers, carers, and people with disabilities to advance these concerns politically. This referendum is a defeat for the government and the political class around them, not for women, people with disabilities or carers. Now is the time to make political demands for rights, status and resources for all of us.

Our Party Statement on #FamilyRef and #CareRef results:

#IrishPolitics #Ireland #WorkersAreCarers #CarersAreWorkers #Referendum #WorkersAndCarers #disability #care

We disagree with the change to the care amendment. We have spoken with people with disabilities and carers, and they feel that it does not protect them. This puts the responsibility of care completely on family members. It only guarantees care for people with disabilities if a family member chooses to care for them. The government held a Citizens’ Assembly to listen to the people affected by these changes. The Citizens’ Assembly recommended a protection for care in the home *and* in the wider community. A committee made up of people from all political parties agreed with this recommendation. But then the government ignored this.

There should be a No vote on the care referendum on friday. The government need to be pressured into running another referendum with better wording. This must protect all care in the home and in the wider community. Society would not function without all types of care. It should be the role of the state to make sure that its importance is protected in our constitution. They must also improve actual supports and do more to protect the rights of people with disabilities and carers.

What You Need to Know for Friday's Vote! [Accessible Version]

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#FamilyRef #CareRef #WorkersAndCarers #Referendum #Carers #Disability #DisabilityRights #Ireland #IrishPolitics #Democracy #CarersAreWorkers #WorkersAreCarers #HumanRights

Accessible Version: This Friday, you will be asked to vote on 2 separate changes to the constitution. They are 2 separate changes, but they are linked. Swipe to read about the 2 changes and our opinions and recommendations.

First Change: This is called the Family Amendment. At the moment, the definition of the family refers to families based on marriage only. You will be asked if you want to change that definition to include families based on marriage and other durable relationships. The term ‘durable relationships’ is not defined. It will be up to the courts to decide. But it would likely include for example: unmarried couples, single-parent households, and grandparents raising grandchildren.

Second Change: This is called the Care Amendment. At the moment, our constitution talks about how the life of the woman in the home is important for society. You will be asked if you want to replace this with a section about the importance of care, that doesn’t mention gender. The new wording talks about care being provided by family members to one another, and that the state will strive to support this.

Our political party ‘Rabharta: The Party for Workers and Carers’ is calling for a: •Yes vote in the Family Amendment - white paper •No vote in the Care Amendment - green paper We agree with the change to the family amendment. It is a small change and it could have been better, but it is a step in the right direction.

What You Need to Know for Friday's Vote! [Accessible Version]

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#FamilyRef #CareRef #WorkersAndCarers #Referendum #Carers #Disability #DisabilityRights #Ireland #IrishPolitics #Democracy #CarersAreWorkers #WorkersAreCarers #HumanRights

Voting No on the Care Amendment is not a protest vote. By Dr Laura Keyes

'Voting No on the Care Amendment is not a protest vote. It's what people with disabilities and carers want' by Dr Laura Keyes.

medium.com/@rabharta/vo...

#CareRef #CarersAreWorkers #WorkersAreCarers #referendum #ireland #IrishPolitics #WorkersAndCarers #medium

Opinion: The care referendum is problematic, paternalistic and downright irresponsible Dr Orla Tinsley on why she will be voting No in the care referendum on Friday.

#ireland 🇮🇪 #ref24 #speirGorm #disability

Dr. Orla Tinsley, an advocate for the rights of those with rare diseases, wrote this piece on why she is voting No in the #CareRef this Friday and why this is so important.

thejournal.ie/readme/orla-tins…

Opinion: Mainstream feminists are backing the 'care amendment' - this is a mistake Dr Rosaleen McDonagh says the mainstream women’s movement is unwittingly reinforcing patriarchal norms by supporting the vote on 8 March.

Opinion: Mainstream feminists are backing the 'care amendment' - this is a mistake
jrnl.ie/6311076

#CareRef #VoteYesNo #speirgorm

As promised, more #CareRef links from people asking you to #VoteYesNo on Friday.

Why are so many disabled people and carers saying the proposed 42b amendment is dangerous, but we aren't as worried about the old wording about women doing harm?
Because ...
1/?

Isaiah Berlin famously defined two concepts of liberty. The more I think about the "Care" referendum, the more I realise what an insult that name is. #CareRef #VoteYesNo 1/

This referendum process began with a citizens’ assembly and has ended up with a cynical face-saving exercise for the minor coalition party. While the 39th amendment on the family is only a marginal improvement on an archaic constitutional text, we are advocating a Yes vote because it extends the status of ‘family’ to more people in different kinds of relationships.

On the care proposal in the referendum on the 40th amendment we are firmly backing a No vote. This is following extensive discussion in our party and with people with disabilities and carers who feel very strongly that the findings of the citizens’ assembly on this topic have been set aside. “The seemingly progressive care amendment is a cynical window-dressing exercise which actually abdicates state responsibility for care and erodes the status of people with disabilities and carers. This is corroborated by people affected directly by the amendment as well as advocacy groups, experts and even acknowledged in part by the Green Party minister who proposed it.

It takes a certain level of hubris to call a citizens’ assembly and then ignore its findings while pressing on with a referendum exercise which is clearly a popularity gimmick given the day on which it is to be held. It is certainly a reasonable point to make that these referenda follow in a government tradition of tokenistic insults painted as progressive gestures. “The ministers responsible for these referendums deserve the bloody nose the electorate wants to give them on it. This government has continually failed workers and carers, particularly women and people with disabilities.

Should the care amendment fail, as is looking increasingly likely, the referendum process should be rerun on the text proposed by the citizens’ assembly with resourcing attached accordingly. A universal right to care and independent life should be extended to everyone living in the State. Without domestic labour and care society would not function, and it should be the role of the state to ensure that its importance is reflected not only in language but in material supports, rights and status.”

Statement from Party Leader and Ireland South MEP Candidate @lornabogue.bsky.social :

#YesNo #FamilyRef #CareRef #Referendum #workersandcarers #ecosocialist #ireland #WorkersAreCarers #CarersAreWorkers #irishpolitics #irishpol #workers #carers #democracy

Vote Yes-No on 8th March For Family and Care

At 'Rabharta: The Party for Workers and Carers', after extensive debate which placed the voices of carers and people with disabilities at its centre, we've decided to support a Yes-No vote for the upcoming 2 referenda this Friday 8th March!

#YesNo #FamilyRef #CareRef #Referendum

Tonight at plenary @rabharta.bsky.social backed a yes/no vote on the 2024 referenda

Yes to #FamilyRef
No to #CareRef

Just realised I haven't posted here at all about the upcoming referendum in Ireland. I'm a carer, a disability rights researcher/phder & activist. I'll be voting No to #CareRef. It swaps outdated sexist language for ableism, abandons disabled people & disability support to the realm of the family.

I am not seeing much referendum chatter outside of Twitter, so over the next few days I'm going to pull together a list of articles and posts by members of the #VoteYesNo campaign.
#CareRef
#Irishpolitics

1/?

‘I have to fight for the bare necessities’ – mum of Ava (8), who has rare condition, on why she is voting No in care referendum The mother of an eight-year-old girl with complex needs has said she fears that an upcoming referendum will put the responsibility of caring solely on the families of vulnerable children.

“That declaration, to me, shows the mindset of that minister and his view of what the supports and services will become post-referendum, so inaccessible we need to take a legal path to access them, that’s soul-destroying.” #CareRef Well said Sam Kenny

www.independent.ie/irish-news/i...

How We Value Care On March 8th we will be asked to vote on a referendum that will insert article 42B into the Irish constitution - the so-called care refere...

“You are removing the 'women in the home' clause to replace it with the carer and people with disabilities in the home clause”

#CareRef

newkidney.blogspot.com/2024/02/how-...

We are considering evidence, research and lived experiences in relation to the upcoming referendums. This thread will provide links to some of the relevant information.

Yes/Yes is better than the status quo but, it can be better and it needs to be better. #careref