- Culture
- 04 Aug 17
Leo Varadkar was asked about the referendum at a speech in Queen's University Belfast about North/South relationships.
The Taoiseach was addressing students and faculty at a meeting in Queen's University about North and South relations in Ireland following the Brexti negotiations.
The Taoiseach was questioned by QUBSU Equality and Diversity Officer, Rachel Powell, about his recent announcement that he would call for a referendum on repealing the 8th Amendment in the summer of 2018. The Officer questioned whether the decision would not be limiting to voting ability of young people and students who want to travel during the summer.
The Taoiseach said that the referendum was "not as straight forward as just having a referendum" and that he hadn't set a date yet, before saying that he "[took] the point" and "[got] the message" that there are people that want to make sure they're in the country when the referendum date is set.
Notably, the three women in the front row facing the Taoiseach were wearing "Repeal" jumpers (pictured above), which has become a symbol of the movement to repeal the 8th Amendment.
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You can hear the question and the Taoiseach's response from 30 minutes into the video below: