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Irish Republican News, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — Ireland has become the first country to legalise same-sex marriage through a popular vote, with indications from all count centres across the country showing Yes votes outnumbering No votes by about two-to-one.
Tallies from the Dublin constituencies show a Yes vote of around 70% while other areas are said to be slightly lower, at around 60%. The official result will be announced on May 23 afternoon.
It was one of the highest ever turnouts for a referendum in the country, with almost 60% of registered voters taking part. In the last referendum, two years ago, only 39% voted nationally in an unsuccessful bid to abolish the Seanad, the upper house of the Dublin parliament.
In a state where homophobia has been the norm — homosexuality remained illegal until 1993, and gay men were often forced to join the priesthood — the result marks a significant “coming out” for Ireland’s LGBT community.
It was also a stunning success for the Yes campaign, largely funded by Irish-American billionaire Chuck Feeney, and opposed by only two of Ireland’s 166 members of parliament.
Although officially against the measure, the Catholic Church in Ireland took a low-key approach to the referendum, partly due to some support within the church itself. In January, a Dublin priest announced during a Saturday night Mass that he supported the referendum and that he is gay. His congregants gave him a standing ovation.
But the most dramatic support on Friday came from an unexpected source: Irish emigrants. Under Ireland’s controversial electoral laws, Irish citizens are only allowed to vote for 18 months after they move abroad, and must travel back to Ireland to cast their ballot.
The journey home to cast their vote became an emotional homecoming for many and there were renewed demands for the Dublin government to legislate for a postal vote for emigrants.
Joey Kavanagh, who organised a bus-and-ferry journey from London, said he and about 50 others made the eight-hour journey back to Dublin. He said he had been “genuinely overwhelmed” by the scale and the scope of the “Home to Vote” movement.