If in Dowd

The presidential election is getting ample coverage at the moment and something crossed my mind after noticing a tweet asking a candidate whether he was pro-life or pro-choice... The referendum on the 8th amendment passed triumphantly, but the debate on access to abortion is far from over: Some disappointed voters are trying to challenge the result  but without damning evidence showing that the referendum's outcome was "materially affected", they won't succeed. More importantly, the proposed piece of legislation which was scrutinised in the campaign must be debated, perhaps amended and eventually passed. Interestingly, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are giving their TDs and Senators a free vote on the legislatio n . One of the few constitutional powers of an Irish President is the ability to refer a bill to the Supreme Court if the President feels that the bill may be unconstitutional. A 7-judge Supreme Court will then sit and review the bill to consider whether it