A group of prominent historians and other scholars are advising members of the electorate to vote "no" in Thursday's referendum on Cabinet confidentiality. The referendum will be held jointly with the presidential election.
In a letter to The Irish Times yesterday, 15 historians from various universities warned that the proposed amendment would severely restrict the range of research which historians could undertake, "thereby depriving present and future generations of the means of forming a full understanding of their history".
The historians are all members of the Irish Committee of Historical Sciences. The committee maintains that the issue should be dealt with by legislation, ensuring the necessary safeguards for historical research as well as Cabinet confidentiality.
In another development yesterday, Dr Tom Garvin, Professor of Political Science at UCD, expressed "unease" about the proposed constitutional amendment.
Dr Garvin said that it was misguided to regard Cabinet confidentiality as something set in stone. Confidentiality was clearly necessary at the time decisions were taken, but it should "fade out" after a generation, he said.
Dr John Horgan, of Dublin City University, who is the author of a new biography of Sean Lemass, due to be published tomorrow, said that he had not finally made up his mind, but was "apprehensive enough to vote `no' ".
The Taoiseach himself had referred to the possibility that another referendum might be necessary to further clarify the issue and it might be better to increase the pressure by voting "no", Dr Horgan said.
Dr Joe Lee, Professor of History at University College, Cork, stated in yesterday's Sunday Tribune that he opposed the amendment. "It beggars belief that we should be proposing to restrict rather than enhance understanding of government decision-making," he said.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties warned that the proposal would damage democracy. In a statement, the ICCL said: "It would stifle debate about Cabinet discussions; prevent ministers who resigned on policy issues from giving the full reasons for their resignations; prevent former ministers from writing memoirs about their time in government and deprive historians of access to information vital to writing the history of modern Ireland."