In 1987, the then Minister responsible for Women’s Affairs, Nuala Fennell gingerly steered legislation through an initially jaundiced Oireachtas abolishing the status of illegitimacy.
It was an important balm for the Fine Gael/Labour coalition of the day which, a year earlier, had seen the electorate emphatically reject its referendum proposal to do away with the constitutional ban on divorce.
https://www.rte.ie/news/analysis-and-comment/2018/0602/967743-adoption/
https://www.rte.ie/news/analysis-and-comment/2018/0602/967743-adoption/