The submission noted that the Constitution “was drafted with the family based on marriage in mind” and that “the family to which the special protection applies is the marital family”.  

But they added that Census data showed what they called “a rich diversity of family life exists in Ireland today”.  

“One in three children in Ireland is born to parents who are not married to each other; one in three families do not confirm to the traditional model of a married couple in their first marriage; and one in five children live in one-parent families,” the statement said.  

The submission added: “The non-marital family is essentially outside of constitutional protection and an unmarried cohabiting couple cannot, no matter how stable or continuous their relationship, bring themselves within the ambit of Article 41.3.1.  

“The European Convention on Human Rights takes a broad view of family life to make sense of diverse family forms. Similarly, the United Nations casts it legal net wide and has adopted a broad definition of the family.  

“On several occasions, the ECHR has required states to treat non-marital families with the same degree of respect as traditional families and will give weight to the functional realities underpinning family life as they appear in ‘present day conditions’.”

The group recommends replacing the current article with “constitutional protection for family life in all of its forms based on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights which reads:

“Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.”

However, the ECHR has never quashed the right of a member state to give a special place to marriage in its law.