Ireland says No, No to constitutional changes

The Irish public has delivered a stunning rejection to the 26 County state’s political classes as two referendums held on Friday backfired disastrously for the Dublin government and almost every other politician in the country.

Ostensibly intended to update old-fashioned language about women and families, voters were asked to approve vague statements about “durable relationships” and “striving” to support the provision of family care.

The results were the biggest and third-biggest defeats in Irish referendum history respectively, by roughly three-to-one and two-to-one respectively.

The vote on the Fortieth Amendment on care was defeated by 74% to 26%, while the vote on the Thirty-Ninth Amendment on the family was defeated by 68% to 32%.

Planned for International Women’s Day, the referendum campaigns were backed by all of the Dáil parties except Aontú. They initially won support, despite being seen as a shallow and expensive attempt by the coalition government to win kudos for their “modernising” agenda.

However, polls showed a large sector of the electorate remained unconvinced and highly uncertain. Concerns came to the fore on Thursday as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar appeared to confirm a more sinister agenda – a plan to shuffle responsibility for the disabled and other care services from the state onto family members.

Previously suppressed legal advice issued by the Attorney General was also leaked to the Ditch website on the eve of voting. It starkly contradicted the statements of Ministers and showed that the referenda had significant repercussions for child care, immigration, and social welfare.

The historic result became clear this morning as the first boxes were tallied in count centres across the country.

Politicians from all parties were embarrassed at their overwhelming rejection by the voters, including Sinn Féin, who had backed a Yes vote in both referendums. However, it was a triumph for their nationalist rivals Aontú, the only party to campaign against them, and its party leader Peadar Tóibín.

Leo Varadkar said voters had delivered “two wallops” to the government.

“Clearly we got it wrong,” he said. “While the old adage is that success has many fathers and failure is an orphan, I think when you lose by this kind of margin, there are a lot of people who got this wrong and I am certainly one of them.”

“It was our responsibility to convince the majority of people to vote ‘yes’ and we clearly failed to do so,” he added.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that there was no “single reason” as to why the referendums were defeated, adding that the his government needed to reflect on the matter.

Peadar Tóibín (pictured, right) who had described the referendums as “virtue signalling” and “a million miles from the lived reality of peoples lives” that would deliver a “solicitor’s paradise”, said his position had been vindicated.

He described the outcome as a victory for the Irish people against the political establishment and hailed his party’s campaign team.

“It was a David V Goliath campaign, and I am proud of the role Aontú played,” he said.

“The government has serious questions to answer. They misled the people. For that, they need to go.”

He also lashed out at the other opposition parties and what he said was the herd mentality in Irish politics.

“In a liberal democracy, progress is achieved by the competition of ideas. You need an opposition to stand up against the government and to find the truth in that debate,” he said.

“If we have a political establishment that operates as a herd, you’ll never be able to have that competition of ideas to get to that truth and I think Aontú has served the public on those terms.”

Independent Irish Senator Michael McDowell (pictured, left) and members of his ‘Lawyers For No’ campaign celebrated at Dublin Castle as the results were declared.

He said the government had “misjudged the mood of the electorate and put before them proposals which they didn’t explain and proposals which could have serious consequences”.

Independent TDs who also campaigned against the referendums welcomed the result.

Left-wing campaigner Catherine Connolly said voters had rejected a “patronising and patriarchical” campaign by the government and state-funded organisations.

Carol Nolan, a conservative Independent TD for Laois Offaly, described the result as a “political earthquake” which showed “how far the Irish government is out of touch with ordinary people”.

Ms Nolan said the referendums were championed by a number of “unelected NGOs”, including the National Women’s Council of Ireland, and were as much about the “dominance that NGOs have in our current political system as about anything else”.

Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald said the government parties had “failed to collaborate and to convince”.

She said the government “had come up short” in terms of wording on the care referendum, meaning people were left with “an unbalanced decision to make”.

However, she stepped back from a previously stated plan to run the referendums again “because the public has spoken”. She said the next government would have a responsibility to “vindicate” the rights of carers and disabled people.

Asked if the Minister responsible for the referendums, Minister for Equality Roderic O’Gorman, should step down, Ms McDonald said: “I think all of them should step down.”

RESULTS
39TH AMENDMENT REFERENDUM
Overall:

Yes 32.3% (487,564) No 67.7% (1,021,546) Turnout: 44.4%

By Constituency:

Carlow-Kilkenny: Yes 29.3% (14,518) No 70.7% (35,028) Turnout: 42.7%
Cavan-Monaghan: Yes 21.9% (10,569) No 78.1% (37,649) Turnout: 44.8%
Clare: Yes 32.1% (12,573) No 67.9% (26,574) Turnout: 44.0%
Cork East: Yes 31.7% (12,048) No 68.3% (25,925) Turnout: 42.5%
Cork North-Central: Yes 31.1% (11,254) No 68.9% (24,933) Turnout: 42.6%
Cork North-West: Yes 33.1% (10,447) No 66.9% (21,133) Turnout: 44.7%
Cork South-Central: Yes 38.6% (15,504) No 61.4% (24,628) Turnout: 45.1%
Cork South-West: Yes 38.3% (10,886) No 61.7% (17,555) Turnout: 42.8%
Donegal: Yes 19.8% (9,669) No 80.2% (39,181) Turnout: 40.0%
Dublin Bay North: Yes 38.5% (20,401) No 61.5% (32,582) Turnout: 50.7%
Dublin Bay South: Yes 49.7% (13,749) No 50.3% (13,942) Turnout: 39.1%
Dublin Central: Yes 42.0% (9,689) No 58.0% (13,387) Turnout: 43.0%
Dublin Fingal: Yes 40.0% (18,846) No 60.0% (28,296) Turnout: 46.9%
Dublin Mid-West: Yes 28.9% (10,031) No 71.1% (24,727) Turnout: 47.6%
Dublin North-West: Yes 28.8% (6,901) No 71.2% (17,039) Turnout: 47.6%
Dublin Rathdown: Yes 49.4% (15,195) No 50.6% (15,566) Turnout: 47.4%
Dublin South-Central: Yes 34.4% (11,103) No 65.6% (21,209) Turnout: 45.6%
Dublin South-West: Yes 34.3% (17,223) No 65.7% (32,926) Turnout: 47.6%
Dublin West: Yes 37.0% (11,930) No 63.0% (20,327) Turnout: 46.2%
Dún Laoghaire: Yes 50.3% (22,073) No 49.7% (21,818) Turnout: 45.5%
Galway East: Yes 28.0% (7,988) No 72.0% (20,557) Turnout: 40.8%
Galway West: Yes 33.8% (13,909) No 66.2% (27,298) Turnout: 41.7%
Kerry: Yes 28.7% (13,580) No 71.3% (33,741) Turnout: 42.6%
Kildare North: Yes 40.2% (15,972) No 59.8% (23,763) Turnout: 48.2%
Kildare South: Yes 30.4% (10,771) No 69.6% (24,666) Turnout: 45.7%
Laois-Offaly: Yes 24.3% (11,776) No 75.7% (36,703) Turnout: 43.7%
Limerick City: Yes 31.7% (10,291) No 68.3% (22,195) Turnout: 43.4%
Limerick County: Yes 27.4% (8,145) No 72.6% (21,602) Turnout: 42.6%
Longford-Westmeath: Yes 25.4% (9,497) No 74.6% (27,940) Turnout: 40.9%
Louth: Yes 28.8% (14,496) No 71.2% (35,783) Turnout: 47.6%
Mayo: Yes 24.5% (10,217) No 75.5% (31,565) Turnout: 43.4%
Meath East: Yes 32.4% (10,035) No 67.6% (20,931) Turnout: 45.9%
Meath West: Yes 28.1% (8,263) No 71.9% (21,157) Turnout: 39.7%
Roscommon-Galway: Yes 26.0% (7,441) No 74.0% (21,173) Turnout: 43.7%
Sligo-Leitrim: Yes 28.1% (11,030) No 71.9% (28,206) Turnout: 42.7%
Tipperary: Yes 26.7% (14,328) No 73.3% (39,338) Turnout: 44.4%
Waterford: Yes 32.9% (11,986) No 67.1% (24,404) Turnout: 42.9%
Wexford: Yes 27.7% (13,348) No 72.3% (34,791) Turnout: 42.5%
Wicklow: Yes 38.8% (19,882) No 61.2% (31,308) Turnout: 51.4%

40TH AMENDMENT REFERENDUM
Overall:

Yes 26.1% (393,053) No 73.9% (1,114,620) Turnout: 44.4%

By Constituency:

Carlow-Kilkenny: Yes 27.8% (13,768) No 72.2% (35,735) Turnout: 42.7%
Cavan-Monaghan: Yes 18.7% (9,038) No 81.3% (39,166) Turnout: 44.8%
Clare: Yes 25.9% (10,131) No 74.1% (28,979) Turnout: 44.0%
Cork East: Yes 25.4% (9,619) No 74.6% (28,320) Turnout: 42.5%
Cork North-Central: Yes 24.0% (8,687) No 76.0% (27,440) Turnout: 42.6%
Cork North-West: Yes 26.4% (8,335) No 73.6% (23,217) Turnout: 44.7%
Cork South-Central: Yes 29.5% (11,838) No 70.5% (28,235) Turnout: 45.1%
Cork South-West: Yes 31.5% (8,943) No 68.5% (19,486) Turnout: 42.8%
Donegal: Yes 16.0% (7,834) No 84.0% (41,030) Turnout: 40.0%
Dublin Bay North: Yes 29.5% (15,559) No 70.5% (37,109) Turnout: 50.7%
Dublin Bay South: Yes 41.4% (11,454) No 58.6% (16,217) Turnout: 39.2%
Dublin Central: Yes 30.5% (7,013) No 69.5% (15,984) Turnout: 43.0%
Dublin Fingal: Yes 31.2% (14,695) No 68.8% (32,391) Turnout: 46.9%
Dublin Mid-West: Yes 21.7% (7,525) No 78.3% (27,201) Turnout: 47.6%
Dublin North-West: Yes 20.5% (4,902) No 79.5% (18,992) Turnout: 47.6%
Dublin Rathdown: Yes 41.1% (12,619) No 58.9% (18,080) Turnout: 47.4%
Dublin South-Central: Yes 24.5% (7,904) No 75.5% (24,379) Turnout: 45.6%
Dublin South-West: Yes 26.4% (13,225) No 73.6% (36,881) Turnout: 47.6%
Dublin West: Yes 29.0% (9,357) No 71.0% (22,893) Turnout: 46.2%
Dún Laoghaire: Yes 42.2% (18,527) No 57.8% (25,370) Turnout: 45.5%
Galway East: Yes 22.1% (6,289) No 77.9% (22,222) Turnout: 40.8%
Galway West: Yes 25.9% (10,660) No 74.1% (30,567) Turnout: 41.7%
Kerry: Yes 24.2% (11,458) No 75.8% (35,809) Turnout: 42.6%
Kildare North: Yes 31.8% (12,628) No 68.2% (27,054) Turnout: 48.2%
Kildare South: Yes 23.7% (8,380) No 76.3% (27,051) Turnout: 45.7%
Laois-Offaly: Yes 20.0% (9,674) No 80.0% (38,779) Turnout: 43.7%
Limerick City: Yes 25.0% (8,096) No 75.0% (24,322) Turnout: 43.4%
Limerick County: Yes 22.7% (6,750) No 77.3% (22,981) Turnout: 42.6%
Longford-Westmeath: Yes 21.4% (8,023) No 78.6% (29,412) Turnout: 40.9%
Louth: Yes 22.9% (11,506) No 77.1% (38,775) Turnout: 47.6%
Mayo: Yes 21.5% (9,009) No 78.5% (32,807) Turnout: 43.3%
Meath East: Yes 25.8% (7,993) No 74.2% (22,942) Turnout: 45.9%
Meath West: Yes 22.3% (6,542) No 77.7% (22,840) Turnout: 39.7%
Roscommon-Galway: Yes 22.0% (6,295) No 78.0% (22,293) Turnout: 43.7%
Sligo-Leitrim: Yes 23.5% (9,210) No 76.5% (30,011) Turnout: 42.7%
Tipperary: Yes 22.6% (12,083) No 77.4% (41,500) Turnout: 44.4%
Waterford: Yes 26.6% (9,675 ) No 73.4% (26,753S) Turnout: 42.9%
Wexford: Yes 25.9% (12,477) No 74.1% (35,619) Turnout: 42.5%
Wicklow: Yes 30.0% (15,332) No 70.0% (35,778) Turnout: 51.4%

Urgent Appeal