The Irish Prime Minister had described the referendum as an opportunity to end “very outdated and very sexist language about women.”
A double referendum in the Republic of Ireland on redefining the roles of the family and women in the constitution has been defeated, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has said.
The government supported the proposed changes, which would have expanded the definition of family and clarified women's duties in society.
Varadkar had described Friday's polls, which deliberately coincided with International Women's Day, as an opportunity to do away with “very outdated, very sexist language about women.”
He said the government would accept the results.
“I think it's clear by now that the referendums on the family amendment and on the care amendment have been defeated, comprehensively defeated with a respectable turnout,” Varadkar said at a news conference in Dublin on Saturday.
“It was our responsibility to convince the majority of people to vote 'Yes' and we clearly failed to do so.”
Official results are expected later Saturday.
The two proposals would have introduced changes to the text of article 41 of the Irish Constitution, drafted in 1937.
The first asked citizens to expand the definition of family from those based on marriage to also include “long-term relationships,” such as cohabiting couples and their children.
The second proposed replacing outdated language around the mother's “home duties” with a clause that recognized the care provided by family members to each other.
Indeed, the proposal to distribute the burden of caring for people with disabilities to the entire family, starting only with the mother, became a dispute over the scope or willingness of the State to support caregivers.
The polls indicated a “Yes”
All major political parties had supported a “Yes-Yes” vote and, until recently, polls predicted a smooth passage for both.
But “No” campaigners argued that the concept of a “long-term relationship” was undefined and confusing and that women and mothers were being “written off” from the constitution.
Meanwhile, ultra-conservative voices argued that the changes could constitutionally protect polygamous relationships and increase immigration through immigrant family reunions, all claims denied by the government.
By 12:00 GMT on Saturday, it was clear that the count was trending towards a “No” on both questions.
The votes are the latest attempt to reflect the changing face of European Union member Ireland and the waning influence of the once-dominant Roman Catholic Church.
In recent decades, Ireland has gone from being a conservative and overwhelmingly Catholic country to an increasingly diverse and socially liberal society.
This change has come down to changes to an outdated constitution where, until 1973, single women had to quit their jobs upon marriage, and married women could not apply for vacancies.
The constitution, the nation's central legal text, can only be changed by a national referendum.
The country of 5.3 million people chose to end constitutional limits on same-sex marriage in 2015 and on abortion in 2018.
