The people have spoken loud and clear. A new record was set by the electorate at the weekend. The staggering rejection of changes to the Constitution on care yielded the highest ever No vote in a referendum. At almost 74pc against, three out of four voters did not agree with the amendments that were put to them. The family referendum was also thrashed, with 67pc of people voting against that amendment.
As he sat in the results room in Dublin Castle where the overwhelming victory for the No sides was confirmed by the constituencies turning red on a big-screen map of Ireland, Michael McDowell’s phone thrummed with congratulatory messages.
There was less than an hour between Junior Integration Minister Joe O’Brien insisting the family and care referendums had “absolutely not” been lost and his party leader Eamon Ryan arriving at the RDS to concede yesterday morning. By that stage, with the ballot boxes open just over two hours, the coalition blame game was already well under way behind the scenes.