The Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018 (bill no. 87 of 2018) is a proposed amendment to the constitution of Ireland which will remove the offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter from the Constitution. An amendment to the constitution must be proposed in Dáil Éireann, passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas, and approved in a referendum.

The bill was introduced to the Oireachtas on 13 July 2018 by the Fine Gael minority coalition government. A referendum will be held on 26 October, on the same date as the presidential election. A second referendum on whether to remove an article referring to women’s place in the home, originally scheduled for the same date, was postponed in September 2018 until 2019.

Sources and further reading:

Blasphemy, Stephen Fry and referendum in Ireland

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45903094

Inside Europe: Ireland’s blasphemy referendum

https://www.dw.com/en/inside-europe-irelands-blasphemy-referendum/av-45951964

Ireland blasphemy referendum: Country to vote on removing the offence from country’s constitution

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ireland-blasphemy-referendum-vote-october-2018-poll-free-speech-presidential-election-a8572891.html