Secondary School Students Aim To Repeal Another Part Of The Irish Constitution
It was always apparent that marriage equality and the move to repeal the eighth would galvanize an entire generation of young people.
Now, a group of secondary students in Ireland have collectively decided to tackle another controversial issue, the 27th amendment.
The 27th amendment of the constitution states that if a child born in the island of Ireland does not, at the time of their birth, have at least one parent who is an Irish citizen, the child is not necessarily entitled to Irish citizenship. If the child is refused citizenship they could face deportation.
The students argue that the deportation of children is immoral and that this amendment violates the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Ireland Ratified in September 1992. Campaigning to remove the amendment, the young activist group have begun a petition in the hopes of attracting the attention of the government and galvanizing the young and older people of Ireland into taking action against the 27th.
The students have started an Instagram called "Repeal27" and we contacted the group to find out what made the issue such a passion project:
The inspiration for Repeal27 was a couple of cases of young people facing deportation orders that have been in the news recently, we felt that was horrendous, and we felt that because it was something that was affecting young people it was our issue too. We want to stand in solidarity with them.
The group stresses that the campaign is something that belongs to every young person passionate about change in Ireland and encourages everyone to sign the petition and get involved.
Last month RTÉ News shared a heartfelt clip of students celebrating 14-year-old Nonso Muojeke's deportation order being overturned after 22,000 people signed a petition to stop his deportation.
Currently, according to the Irish Refugee Council, over 2,000 children live in direct provision in Ireland and no child benefit is given to asylum seeker children. Parents must live off a weekly budget of 19 euro. Parents find it difficult to secure a place in school for their child with poor access to transport from DP to education centres. On top of this, cases of malnutrition amongst children and expectant mothers are common.
If there's one group of people who can make change a reality it's the youth of Ireland. To sign the petition click here.