THE CONSTITUTION’S SO-CALLED “women in the home” article has come under threat in recent years, with the Constitutional Convention voting overwhelmingly in favour of it being removed.

“The State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieve,” Article 42.1 of Bunreacht na hÉireann reads, and goes on to say that the State will do all it can to ensure that mothers do not have engage in labour “to neglect of their duties in the home”.

Theresa Heaney believes this has fallen by the wayside in recent years, with the government forcing mothers out of the home, prompting her to throw her hat in the ring for the European elections with the Catholic Democrat party (formerly the National Party, before being renamed the Christian Democrats).

State-funded childcare

She believes that the mother has been the “Cinderella of public policy”, and has been forced out of the home into work, with the government aiming for children to be sent to state-funded childcare services.

While she is also conscious such as bank debt and public unease at rising taxes, Heaney is focusing her campaign on the rights of mother, believing that more recognition needs to be given to those who stay at home rather than go to work.

“Family unit”

She says that this will help maintain “the family unit”, resulting in many social issues, such as rising crime rates across Europe, being alleviated or even negated completely.

Not only that, but Heaney believes that scientific evidence points towards the development of babies being “absolutely dependent on a one-to-one nurturing relationship”.

“It is widely recognised that the best person to give that care is the mother”, she said, although said that families should be free to allow the father to look after the child and the mother go to work.

Same-sex couples

However, she doesn’t see a situation where this will involve a married same-sex couple.

“There will be no same-sex referendum going through in Ireland, I guarantee it, because our faith and the family is too strong to actually interfere with family life in that area,” she said.

Marriage is about one man, one woman, a lifetime commitment. In The Story, there’s no such thing as marriage between people of same-sex attraction, it’s like calling an orange an apple – it doesn’t match up.

Heaney is far from a Europhile, describing it as a “dictatorial body that writes out streams of directives”, and isn’t a fan of those in Leinster House either.

She described the reaction she has been receiving on the doorsteps of Ireland South as positive, due to voters disillusionment with the current political establishment.

“They’re not getting the same political claptrap that goes on,” Heaney said, “the usual meaningless phrases that come from politicians who are programmed with double-speak – we’re not about that.”

She also accused the government of ignoring the issue of leaks in our water system to increase revenue generated by the water tax, as the country is heading towards huge issues with water purification:

There’s a report going to be released in Europe that actually confirms that all of our waterways are highly polluted with petrochemicals and oestrogen, directly from, guess what? The contraceptive pill… If you go off God’s plan, you end up with problems.

Heaney has run in three previous elections, although only attracted a small minority of voters, but this is the first European election she has contested.

She intends on sending a “clear indicator to Brussels of what we’re going to put up with”.

“They’ve wrecked our farming, they’ve wrecked our agriculture, taken our bogs, taken over our water, but they’re certainly not going to take over our family”.

The European politics facts and figures…

As we build up to the 23 May polling day, TheJournal.ie‘s been giving each European Election candidate we interview a quick pop quiz on the institutions.

How many seats will the EU Parliament have after the election?I think it’s 300 and something, I don’t know exactly. All I’m looking for is one, I’m sure they could spare one. [Incorrect, it's 751, down from 766]What year did Ireland officially join?1973. [Correct]

What was the last country to join EU?

Was it Croatia? [Correct, it was.]

What was the last country to join Eurozone?

I don’t know. [It was Latvia]