School level

Referendum

What is the upcoming referendum about?

On Friday, 26 October, the Irish electorate will vote on whether to remove the word 'blasphemous' from article 40 of the constitution. Currently, the constitution says that publishing or saying something blasphemous is a criminal offence and punishable by law with a fine of up to €25,000.

On polling day, voters will be given two ballot papers: a green ballot paper for the referendum, and a white ballot paper for the presidential election. For more information, visit the Referendum Commission website. 


Lesson Activity

 

 


School Poll

The Constitution of Ireland (Bunreacht na hÉireann) is a legal document which sets out how Ireland should be governed and the rights of the people. The constitution can only be changed by a referendum. 

In order to vote in a referendum, you must be over 18 years of age and registered to vote. Each local authority is responsible for compiling and publishing a list of voters in its area. This is called the Register of Electors. Anyone can inspect this Register. It is available in all local authority offices, post offices, Garda stations and public libraries. You can use checktheregister.ie to check to see if you are on the Electoral Register.

Students under the age of 18 cannot vote in this referendum. Students could discuss the history of voting in Ireland using this lesson activity called 'Who in Ireland is entitled to vote?'. Below is a MOCK poll for students under 18 to share their views on the upcoming proposal to amend the constitution...


What is a Democracy?

Learn about the meaning of democracy and the need for rules.

The Constitution

Learn about the articles in the constitution

Who Can Vote?

See the differences between elections and referendums.


Previous Referendum - RTÉ Archives

RTÉ Archives is home to Ireland’s largest collection of audiovisual material. Combining hundreds of thousands of hours of moving image and sound recordings together with significant collections of photographs, manuscripts and administrative documents.

Students could use the RTÉ Archives to investigate the referendums of the past in Ireland. Below, students can watch the public reaction to the referendum on divorce, proportional representation and same-sex marriage. For more RTÉ Archives videos, click here.

Add a resource

Did you know that your Internet Explorer is out of date

To get the best possible experience using our website we recommend that you upgrade to a newer version or other web browser.

Upgrade your browser now

Registering for a Scoilnet Account – your first step to contributing and sharing

What you need...

To register for a Scoilnet Account you will need to have a Teaching Council number and a roll number for your school in Ireland.

If you already have a Scoilnet Account then you can sign in here.

The benefits...

A Scoilnet account will allow you to upload your resources or weblinks to Scoilnet as well as enabling you to share and add resources to a favourites listing. Users who have a Scoilnet Account will also be able to fully access Scoilnet Maps and Census@School from home.


Register

Add this resource to your Learning Path

You need to login before you can add this resource to a Learning Path

Login