#InPictures: Academics lead public reading of Bunreacht na hÉireann

#InPictures: Academics lead public reading of Bunreacht na hÉireann

Legal academics at University College Dublin (UCD) have staged a durational reading of Bunreacht na hÉireann to reflect on the Constitution and spark conversation about potential changes to its text and society.

The durational reading was led by family law academic Dr Maebh Harding and poet and law graduate Dr Julie Morrissy, and is the first time the Constitution has been publicly read and reflected upon from start to finish.

Dr Harding, assistant professor at UCD Sutherland School of Law, said: “Each time we go to the polls for a referendum we only focus on small sections of the constitution and myths about the power of Bunreacht abound.

“This reading encourages us to consider as a whole the fundamental values expressed in Bunreacht that guide and limit the day-to-day legislation that directly affects people’s lives. Reading Article 41 aloud, together as a group emphasises its outdatedness as a guiding principle to legislate for the needs and values of modern Ireland.”

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