IRELAND voted on a referendum today to delete a reference in the country’s constitution to women’s domestic duties and broaden the definition of the family.

The first of the votes, which took place on International Women’s Day, deals with a part of the constitution that pledges to protect the family as the primary unit of society. 

Voters were asked to remove a reference to marriage as the basis “on which the family is founded” and replace it with a clause that says families can be founded “on marriage or on other durable relationships.”

The second change would remove a reference to women’s role in the home as a key support to the state, and delete a statement that “mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home.”

It would add a clause saying the state will strive to support “the provision of care by members of a family to one another.”

Ireland’s constitution dates from 1937, when the country became a republic.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said the votes are about removing “very old-fashioned language” and recognising the realities of modern family life.

Opinion polls suggest support for the “yes” side on both votes.

Tracy Carroll from County Meath in central Ireland, who cares full-time for her two children, said women had long been told “our place in society is in the home and looking after our children and our husbands.

“We’ve moved from that, but the constitution hasn’t moved from that, and a woman’s place is anywhere she wants it to be,” she told Sky News.

The result is likely to be announced this afternoon.