Ms Chambers, who is a Midland-North-West European elections candidate for her party, said that while she supported a Yes vote on the family question at the beginning of the campaign, she changed her mind after reading the Attorney General’s advice and listening to the debate.
However, she said she was “never supportive” of the care amendment
A Fianna Fáil post on X shows Ms Chambers out canvassing in Dublin’s city centre.
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Speaking tonight, Ms Chambers said: “Yes, I went out on one canvass at the start of the campaign a few weeks back as I was supportive of a Yes vote on the ‘Family’ question initially, but I changed my mind towards the end of the campaign after listening to the debate as the uncertainty grew over the legal consequences of a Yes vote, particularly after reading the AG (Attorney General) advice.
“I was never supportive of the Care amendment for the simple reason that it would have removed the word “mother” from the constitution, not because I don’t want carers recognised in our constitution, because I do.”
Earlier, she told RTÉ’s Drivetime programme that she did not tell Mícheál Martin her position.
Poll topping veteran TD Willie O’Dea today also confirmed that he had voted No-No.
In a post, he said: “Fianna Fáil needs to get back to basics and to abandon the Hate Speech Bill,” referring to legislation from Justice minister Helen McEntee.
He said the party should focus on housing, health and law & order, adding; “Stop playing to the woke gallery. Start listening to the people and stop talking down to them.” He also blasted “out-of-touch Greens and NGOs”.
Meanwhile, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has defended the resounding No votes in the referendums as a democratic choice.
The Foreign Affairs Minister also admitted that it was possible the degree to which people were pushing for the articles to be changed was overestimated.
The Government’s proposals on family and care votes were overwhelmingly rejected in a vote on Friday that saw a 44pc turnout.
The family amendment, which proposed extending the meaning of family beyond one defined by marriage and to include those based on “durable” relationships, lost 67.7pc to 32.3pc.
The care amendment, which proposed deleting references to a woman’s roles and duties in the home and replacing it with a new article acknowledging family care, lost 73.9pc to 26.1pc.
The care vote is the highest “no” vote in any referendums.
Speaking to reporters in Limerick earlier today, Mr Martin said he fully accepted the people’s decision and was comfortable with their verdict, even as some of Fianna Fáil’s leading lights attacked their party’s involvement in pushing for Yes-Yes.
Mr Martin said the change to the constitutional article that refers to a mother’s duties in the home was recommended in a constitutional convention in 1996.
He added: “Suffice to say, this issue has been on the agenda a long, long time and what this Government did was put it to the people.
“The people said, ‘we’re happy with the existing provisions in the Constitution’ – or certainly didn’t accept the propositions or weren’t persuaded to accept the propositions that were put before them.”
He said that although it was worth reflecting on what happened, there “may be” some overreacting over interpreting the defeat for the government’s proposals.
He added: “I’m comfortable with the people making a decision on something that’s been around for 30 years.
“Successive governments, successive Oireachtas members of all parties have always advocated for changing these, and maybe it was overestimated the degree to which the people actually were pushing for change to these articles and I think the people gave an answer on Friday, which I fully accept.”
Polling information and interviews suggest that among the reasons for the rejection were the lack of clarity around the terms “durable relationships” and “strive” to support family care, as well as the consequences of inserting those words into the constitution.
Discussions have been taking place on how the referenda were lost, with junior minister and Fianna Fail TD Mary Butler admitting that not everyone in government got behind the campaign.
Asked if the scale of the losses posed issues for the Coalition, Mr Martin said: “I’m certainly not approaching it that way.”
He said that in countries where parliaments amend the Constitution, it has led to the powers of governments growing.
He added: “We’ve put a proposition before the people, the people have said no, we don’t like what you put forward. I’m comfortable with that.
“If you engage in sort of blame games or whatever, what you’re actually saying is the people got it wrong. As far as I’m concerned, the people made their decision and the people’s will is paramount in a democracy. That’s it. One accepts it and moves on.”
Mr Martin was in Limerick to announce Dee Ryan as Fianna Fail’s candidate for Limerick’s first directly elected mayor, the vote for which will take place alongside the local elections in June.
