Irish Oppose Divorce Ban, Poll Reports

DUBLIN, Ireland — A majority of voters in the predominantly Roman Catholic Irish Republic are in favor of elimination of a constitutional ban on divorce in a referendum next month, a public opinion poll said Tuesday.

The poll, conducted for The Irish Times newspaper, showed that despite opposition from the church, 57% of voters would vote to drop the ban on divorce. Thirty-six percent were opposed to legalizing divorce and 7% said they still were undecided, the newspaper said, quoting the poll conducted by the independent Market Research Bureau of Ireland.

Article 41 of the 1937 Constitution forbids any law being passed to allow divorce through the courts, although the church every year sanctions a handful of marriage annulments without the right to remarry.