Referendum on Gender Equality (THREADBANS IN OP)

The NoNo crowd are a vocal but small group that needed a low turnout to succeed. It doesn't appear to be case, a 40%+ turnout for such an unimportant referendum is actually quite remarkable.

I'd predict something like 56% Yes for family and 52% Yes for care.

To be very honest ... I couldn't care less about these 2 referendums .... there doesn't seem to be much difference between yes and no .... the courts already have laws dealing with all issues ... and there are more important things the state should be doing than wasting money on these campaigns ...

I'd love to know who pushes for these type of referendums .... plus we the people were not consulted when it came to more profound govt decisions on our lives like long lockdowns and bailing out the banks .... this whole issue of gender seems to be an obsession with some ... to me it is a private issue ... and respect everyone for who they are ... every darn thing does not need to be discussed and debated .... on the other hand there are some consistent problems the govt does need to address ... let's review the 2020s ....

2020 .... main problems .... Covid 19 .... OTT Covid 19 restrictions .... homelessnesss .... housing crisis ....

2021 .... main problems .... OTT Covid 19 restrictions .... homelessnesss .... housing crisis ....

2022 .... main problems .... homelessnesss .... housing crisis ....

2023 .... main problems .... homelessnesss .... housing crisis ....

2024 .... main problems .... homelessnesss .... housing crisis ....

There is a pattern there for ALL to see .... something was done about Covid 19 (vaccine), they finally woke up about the OTT restrictions .... but the other 2 things have remained and if anything are getting worse .... I think it is time to solve these not squander money on trivial referendums .... by not solving the 2 problems listed above you hand a cause to the evils of the far right .... esp with refugee crises and wars adding to the problems .... it is time for the govt to wake up like they did about their first (and v flawed) Covid policy ...

Where did you see 40%? All I am seeing is 20% and less. Not only that but mostly older people voting with young completely skipping this one. I would not be so confident with yes having a chance to win.

I went in there around 8.30 and I thought there may be some amount of late comers and stragglers in but there was nothing but tumbleweed. I suspect I actually woke some of the people sitting there at ballot boxes when I barged in.

I guess all your brow beating of No voters for xenophobia earlier in the forum was ill-informed.

Wrong

The pollsters said the Yes side was doing well, but they were ignoring the signals from Don’t Knows, and, even more important, Don’t understand. If the results today are no, no, it would be an huge embarrassment for the pollsters in this country.

As I have said from the beginning, the politicians were aiming for a low turnout, perhaps even below 30%. That would assure them of a yes vote provided their loyal supporters turned out. Once the turnout increased, there were likely to be more disaffected voters who wanted to give the politicians a well-earned kick in the pants. If the politicians actually wanted a high turnout, they did a damn bad job of campaigning. How many politicians did you see on the streets looking for votes. Wait till June when the local elections come on and there will be floods of them. . And posters festooning every pole.

The main Irish Times headline has everything arseways as usual

It should read “higher-than-expected turnout leads to optimism for result.”

Boxes being opened now across the country.

If there is a clear majority one way or the other, it should be obvious to tallymen tallypersons within an hour of boxes being opened. Easily counted. Two votes but likely to be very similar trend. Not likely to be major divisions across the country (urban/rural, social class).

If it’s a clear Yes/Yes, the media will call it by 11 o’clock but if it’s No,No the media will dance around it until lunchtime while social media will call it quickly.

Ah it's too early to call it

I’ll call both now - it’s No, No.

Social media show strong No votes on the care referendum across the country. I doubt Family will do much better.

Lets see how long before the media call it.

Big servings of humble pie for all the politicians (90% of whom didn’t lift a finger to get out the Yes vote. Saving that for the votes that matter in June and, I suppose, October.

It looks the areas with the most complicated family set ups have substantially voted No.

Let's hope the Citizens Assembly nonsense is ended after this fiasco.

Another gigantic waste of money.

If that's true, it would be a very bad omen for those proposing these wordings. I thought with higher urban turnout over rural that this might favour Yes votes but that above would be significant insight if true.

If these do fail and I hope they do, will that be the end of Roderic O'Gorman? Between himself, Ossian Smyth and his circular economy bottles incompetence and the MIA Catherine Martin, not a great time for the Greens in government.

Glasnevin Tally here from Dublin North West

43% Yes 57% No - Family

30% Yes 70% No - Care

“Leaning towards”😂

It’s a landslide in this station in South Central

There's only one thing to do now.

Blame Russia.