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THE VOTES HAVE been cast, the tallies have been done, and now the results are starting to come in.
It’s a bad day for the government parties with both Fine Gael and Labour losing seats in constituencies across the country. Fianna Fáil have surged, Sinn Féin has had some strong results, and smaller parties and independent candidates have had a hugely successful election.
Join us as we follow the news, results, reaction, winners and losers in the 2016 General Election. Our earlier liveblog from Saturday can be read here.
Well, this has been quite the day so far, hasn’t it?
This is Christine Bohan (still) here with you into the evening for what has been a dramatic election count day. Got any thoughts or comments? Let me know in the comments section, tweet me or mail me at christine@thejournal.ie.
Daragh O’Brien has been elected in Dublin Fingal, making him the first Fianna Fáil TD in Dublin after the party lost all their TDs in the capital over the past five years.
Clare Daly looks likely to be elected soon having finished in second place, but Minister for Children James Reilly is in trouble – he’s currently in 6th position in the five-seat constituency.
Gerry Adams has been talking about his party’s result – and in particular whether Sinn Féin would have done better if his performance in the televised debates had been stronger.
The party looks set to bring home around 27 seats - a significant improvement on its showing in 2011 when it returned 14 seats.
Speaking to Sharon Ní Bheoláin, Adams said:
Well I think if you were putting that question [about his performance] to Enda Kenny or the Labour leader, you might have a point.
Obviously, you can always improve… We’ve increased our vote by 50%. This is the start of a realignment of politics. Some people lent their votes from Fianna Fáil to Fine Gael… some of them went back.
Stephen Donnelly is the first TD to be elected in Wicklow, topping the poll with 14,348 votes. All three sitting Social Democrats TDs have now been returned to the Dáil and all three have topped the poll in their constituencies.
Here’s where the parties stand right now with 20 of the seats decided:
Fianna Fáil have won a lot of the early seats, but Fine Gael and Sinn Féin will see their numbers increase over the course of the evening.
In Galway East, Seán Canney (Ind) and Ann Rabbitte (FF) have both just been elected on the second count. Canney had topped the poll with 19% of the vote, while Rabbitte benefited from a large proportion of redistributed votes when running mate Colm Keaveney was eliminated.
Some constituencies haven’t even returned a first count yet but Laois is already finished. The constituency had just six candidates running for three seats and the final result threw up no surprises (you can read more here about why it was so predictable).
Seán Fleming (FF), Charlie Flanagan (FG) and Brian Stanley (SF) have all been deemed elected.
Michael Lowry topped the poll in Tipperary, in what was perhaps one of the only predictable results in what has been an unpredictable election. But what does he make of his victory?
“I did what Kilkenny never could, I’ve done the five in a row,” he told Newstalk a few minutes ago. “Tipperary has had a love for me for over 28 years now”.
Regarding the speculation at the start of the campaign about whether he would be needed to support Fine Gael in government, Lowry said he was ‘amused’ by it:
It was always irrelevant. I was amused at the amount of publicity it got – I predicted it would be irrelevant, other politicians were using me for their own purposes.
It’s been a very bad election for the government. Fine Gael made a major mistake in their strategy – they said they were a safe hand on the economy, but then in week one they went with auction politics and lost all credibility.
Joanna Tuffy, one of the Labour TDs who have lost their seats today, has a convincing theory about why she lost:
What do you do when you get to the polling station and decide you don’t like the look of any of the candidates?
For one Dublin West voter, the answer was simple: write ‘Conor McGregor’ at the top of the list, draw your own box and add a tick. Nice try.
Mary Lou McDonald has been elected in Dublin Central after topping the poll and getting almost twice the number of votes of her nearest competitor, Paschal Donohoe.
And speaking of poll-toppers: Leo Varadkar has just been elected in Dublin West
Fianna Fáil’s bright young hope Jack Chambers looks likely to be elected there shortly, while Labour leader Joan Burton, Socialist Party’s Ruth Coppinger and Sinn Féin’s Paul Donnelly battle it out for the third and fourth seats. There are currently just 22 votes between Burton and Coppinger.
Anyone at the RDS count centre lose some jewellery?
Richard Boyd Barrett becomes the first TD to be elected in Dún Laoghaire and the first AAA-PBP TD elected to the 32nd Dáil.
No being-hoisted-up-onto-shoulders or wild cheering at the countcentre, though – just a round of applause and some big smiles.
Galway East is the second constituency to fill all of its seats:
Big news for the Green Party: deputy leader Catherine Martin has just been elected in Dublin Rathdown, becoming the party’s first TD in this Dáil (and the first since they lost every one of their Dáil seats in the 2011 general election).
Here’s an interview we did with her last year, soon after she was elected as a councillor.
This has been a good election for the Greens. Leader Eamon Ryan is still in the running to take a seat in the hugely competitive Dublin Bay South, and the party has exceeded the 2% of the vote it needed in order to secure State funding.
The other big news from Dublin Rathdown: In a shock result, former Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has been eliminated.
The Fine Gael TD missed out on the final seat after being beaten into fourth place in the 3-seater by Shane Ross, his own running mate Josepha Madigan, and Catherine Martin of the Green Party.
Shatter had been one of the most high profile Fine Gael TDs, but had resigned as justice minister in 2014 following the Guerin report into alleged malpractice in An Garda Síochána.
He had been elected to the Dáil at his first attempt in 1981, when he was just 29 years old. He served as a TD for 30 of the last 35 years and before today, he had only lost one of 10 Dáil elections, in 2002 – when he was defeated by the Green party’s Eamon Ryan.
Another Labour TD bites the dust: Joe Costello has been eliminated in Dublin Central after finishing in 7th place in the 3-seater.
Costello had served as a TD from 1992 until 1997 and from 2002 until today. His elimination will see his 2,345 distributed among the remaining candidates, in what has become a tight battle for the remaining two seats (Mary Lou McDonald was elected there several hours ago after topping the poll).
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has just been elected on the first count in Mayo with 13,318 votes, exceeding the quota of 12,730.
There has been no sign of him all day – perhaps unsurprisingly, given the results so far – but my colleague Orla Ryan, who is in the Mayo count centre, says that he is due to speak to the media shortly.
Bit of info, stats fans: Enda Kenny has now won all 13 Dáil elections since the by-election of 1975, when he took over after the death of his father Henry.
He entered the Dáil at the age of 24 and has now spent almost 41 years as a TD in Mayo. He will be the most electorally successful – as an individual, that is, not as a party leader – and longest-serving member of the next Dáil.
Let’s have a look at where the parties are at right now:
With 34 seats decided so far out of 158 (around 21% of the total number of seats), Fianna Fáil are still in the lead with 13 seats, followed by Fine Gael (8), SF and Independents (both on 4) and Social Democrats (3).
Perhaps most striking: Labour has still not returned a single TD.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has topped the poll in 5-seater Louth on the first count.
With 10,661 votes, he is fewer than 600 votes away from the quota.
Adams looks likely to bring in his running mate Imelda Munster too, but Labour’s Ged Nash is in trouble. The Minister for Business and Employment is currently in sixth place and will face a tough task to muscle in to the top five.
And two more results: John McGuinness, the outspoken FF TD, has taken the first seat in Carlow-Kilkenny:
And Heather Humphreys, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, has kept her seat in Cavan-Monaghan and is deemed elected on the first count.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny spoke to the media in Mayo moments ago as the first count was read out (in which he topped the poll and was deemed elected).
It was the first appearance form the Fine Gael leader all day. He told the waiting journalists that he was “disappointed” and felt “sorrow” for many Fine Gael candidates.
Democracy is always exciting but it is merciless when it kicks in. That said, at the same time, we’ve had substantial results in a number of constituencies. It more or less puts Fine Gael back to where we were in 2007.
Suspect a lot of Fine Gael members won’t exactly see it in such a positive light.
Sitting Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy has been re-elected in Longford – Westmeath, keeping the seat he gained for the first time in the 2011 election.
In Wicklow, Simon Harris (FG) and John Brady (SF) have joined Stephen Donnelly (SD) to make up three of the five TDs in the constituency.
Labour leader Joan Burton has just arrived at the Dublin West count centre, which is due to announce a new count in the next few minutes.
Paul Hosford, who is in the count centre, says that tallies are looking strong for her and she is likely to take the third or fourth seat in the 4-seat constituency.
My colleague Dan MacGuill points out that Joan Burton’s day today is uncannily similar to the election of February 1987, when Dick Spring – who was leader of the Labour party and Tánaiste – survived an even bigger scare in Kerry North, hanging on for the final seat by just five votes, after a full recount.
Six votes in the other direction would have effectively ended his political career, but five years later he led the Labour party to its most successful election ever, and became Tánaiste again. Joan Burton will be hoping history can repeat itself.
We’re into the 13th hour of the count now with exactly one quarter of the seats filled. If you’re looking to sum up what’s been a dramatic day so far, here are the main talking points
My colleague Paul Hosford in the Dublin West count centre says there’s “lots of hugging” among Joan Burton’s supporters. “They’re relieved and happy,” he says.
Mary Lou McDonald has just arrived there too. “Today is another milestone for us,” she told the media. “We’re not going away, you know”.
There’s going to be a lot of analysis in the coming days about where it all went wrong for Labour and Fine Gael, and what they could have done differently.
Richard Boyd-Barrett has been talking on RTE radio to Joanna Tuffy (who was one of the first sitting Labour TDs to lose her seat earlier today) about what he thinks the party did wrong:
Even now, I don’t think Labour get it. They were elected to protect the less well-off, something they failed catatrophically to do – and now they’ve paid the price.
My colleague Hugh O’Connell has been talking to Shane Ross about Independents’ Day and the “arrogance of the government”.
The Independent Alliance’s putative leader says he and its three sitting TDs – Finian McGrath, Michael Fitzmaurice, John Halligan – will all be re-elected. Seán Canney has taken a seat in Galway East and he expects Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran to get a seat.
So we’ve got six, we’re looking at a few others. I’d say we’re the largest small group, which puts us in a pivotal position to put our principles and policies on the table.
On the government’s campaign, he adds:
I think it serves them right. I think the arrogance of the government in this campaign was quite staggering. I thought the way they conducted it was utterly wrong and condescending and I’m not surprised. I think the people reacted against the presumption of wealth in the country that it spread everywhere, which it hadn’t.
Only two constituencies in the country haven’t announced a first count yet: Kerry and Dublin Bay North.
To be fair, they’re both massive constituencies. Kerry has changed from two 3-seaters to one 5-seater, while Dublin Bay North has a massive battle ongoing between its 20 candidates.
But still.
Just in: Labour leader Joan Burton has kept her seat in Dublin West.
The Tánaiste had been under increasing pressure in recent weeks over the party’s lacklustre campaign, but has made it in on the fourth count, along with Ruth Coppinger (SP) and Jack Chambers (FF).
Major relief for Joan Burton. Random fact: she’s the first Labour TD to be elected today.
Seán Ó Fearghaíl (FF) and Fiona O’Loughlin (also FF) have just taken the second and third seats in Kildare South.
Wicklow and Tipperary are both calling it a night. Both count centres have adjourned until tomorrow morning.
Is Alan Kelly in trouble? TCD professor Michael Gallagher thinks he could be.
Michael Lowry is currently the only TD to be elected in Tipperary. Mattie McGrath was 173 votes away from the quota when the count was adjourned until tomorrow – but after that, there is a battle between 4 candidates – including Kelly – for the remaining 3 seats.
Josepha Madigan, who took out her running mate Alan Shatter in Dublin Rathdown, is trying out her new title:
Minister for Children James Reilly is down but he’s not definitively out. That’s the word from the Dublin Fingal count centre, at least, where my colleague Daragh Brophy has been all evening.
“Talked to various teams at Dublin Fingal. James Reilly still in with a slim chance, they say. It’s complicated,” he says.
The Social Democrats have won three seats so far and are hoping for one more, with Gary Gannon in serious contention in Dublin Central.
Could they enter government? Stephen Donnelly isn’t ruling it out:
We want to build a better Ireland based on better democratic values. Anyone who wants to enter that conversation, can enter that conversation. But we won’t accept that status quo.
Clare Daly has been re-elected in Dublin Fingal.
There was a huge welcome for the Green Party’s new TD Catherine Martin as she arrived at the RDS just now:
It’s a sign of how bad things are for Labour that party stalwart Willie Penrose, who has been a TD for the party since 1992, looks unlikely to keep his seat in Longford-Westmeath.
“As a betting person, I wouldn’t be laying much of a wager on my chances,” he said just now.
Clare Daly says she is personally delighted about her re-election, especially as it is her first time running as an independent.
Speaking to RTE radio, she was realistic about what the gains for the small parties and independents mean.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has become increasingly pragmatic in his media appearances this evening as the numbers repeatedly point to the fact that the only possibility for a majority government is a Fianna Fáil – Fine Gael coalition (FF aren’t quite as pragmatic about it, repeatedly ruling it out).
Speaking to RTE radio a short while ago, Kenny said:
It’s my responsibility and duty as Taoiseach to attempt to provide a government for the people. The people didn’t want an overall majority for anyone, they didn’t want the current government; the over-riding requirement is that the country has a government, it’s my responsibility to provide that.
That sounds like he’s open to almost any government partner, doesn’t it?
How are your nerves right now? Want some added drama?
After 10 counts in Dublin Central, there are 8 (!) votes between Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats and Maureen O’Sullivan (Ind).
There’s disappointment for former Dublin lord mayor Christy Burke (Ind) who was in the mix right up until this 10th count. His votes will now be redistributed – but it could go any way. Recount, anyone?
Scenes from the Mayo count centre where Stephen Manning, a candidate for Integrity Ireland, has been forcibly removed from the building:
Here’s the state of play at 10.45pm with almost exactly one third of the 158 seats filled:
Fianna Fáil is still in the lead. Labour still only has 1 TD.
This is what relief looks like:
The oldest candidate in the election, 85-year-old Ian McGarvey, has just been eliminated in the latest count in Donegal.
85! I’m tired even thinking about that.
Damien English (FG) has been elected in Meath West, filling the last of the three seats there.
And two high-profile eliminations just in: Áine Collins, a sitting Fine Gael TD in Cork North-West, has just been eliminated on the seventh count, while Senator Fidelma Healy Eames of ‘wiffy‘ fame has also been excluded.
Still with us? Sure what else would you be doing at 11.19pm on a Saturday night.
If you’ve any thoughts, comments, reactions, rants or observations, head to the comments section, tweet me @christinebohan or mail me: christine@thejournal.ie. Or just send me some good gifs. I’m open to all forms of human interaction at this stage.
Two quick updates:
We knew it was going to be big but this is huge.
Michael Healy Rae has topped the poll in Kerry with a massive 20,378 votes, smashing through the quota. That’s the single highest first preference vote of any candidate today.
His brother Danny Healy Rae is in second place in the 5-seat constituency with 9,991 votes, and will comfortably get in when Michael’s surplus is distributed.
It’s taken 14 hours and 20 minutes but we have a first count from Dublin Bay North (the last constituency to return a first count, fact fans).
The quota is 12,271 in this 5-seater, and while the first two seats look clear cut, there’ll be a fight for the remaining three. Here are the contenders:
And after teasing us with a first count, the count has now been adjourned until 10 o’clock tomorrow morning.
If there is a more dramatic story than that of Maureen O’Sullivan (Ind) today, we’ve yet to hear it.
The Dublin Central TD was in 7th place in the 3-seater after the first count, and her team had apparently gone home to drown their sorrows, assuming that she’d lost.
Turns out: she hadn’t. She has just been deemed elected at the RDS, after edging out Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats for the final seat.
O’Sullivan joins Paschal Donohoe (FG), who has also just been re-elected, and Mary Lou McDonald (SF) in the constituency.
Nothing like PR-STV for some last-minute drama, is there?
We haven’t had a good old newly-elected-TD- hoisted-up-on-the-shoulders-of-supporters video for a while, have we?
Two more updates:
Just in: Renua leader Lucinda Creighton has been eliminated in Dublin Bay South.
The former Fine Gael TD, who set up Renua last year, was eliminated after the fifth count at the RDS.
Full story is here.
Three more updates:
More on Dublin Bay South:
Lucinda Creighton‘s transfers will be pivotal in deciding who gets over the line in the 4-seater constituency. The first three seats look likely to go to Eoghan Murphy (FG), Eamon Ryan (Green) and Kate O’Connell (FG).
However there are just 104 votes between the remaining three candidates. Going to be a long night for Jim O’Callaghan, Kevin Humphreys and Chris Andrews. Count has been adjourned until tomorrow morning.
Dessie Ellis (SF) has taken the second seat in Dublin North West.
The final seat is a battle between two candidates: Paul McAuliffe (FF) and Noel Rock (FG). McAuliffe is currently ahead by 227 votes, but Rock is likely to benefit when the votes of sitting TD John Lyons (Lab) are redistributed.
Still to close to call either way. The count, like others in the RDS, has been adjourned for the night and will resume at 10am.
Five more seats filled in the last few minutes:
Two sitting Fine Gael TDs, Regina Doherty and Helen McEntee, have been re-elected on the 9th count in Meath East.
It’s winding down for the night at the RDS, with counts to resume at 10am tomorrow morning for Dublin North West, Dublin Bay North, Dublin Bay South and Dublin South Central.
Missed this cry for help from one of our reporters at the National Show Centre in Swords for the Dublin Fingal count a little while ago. Haven’t heard from them in a while. Should probably check on them.
It’s neck and neck between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael right now with 47% of the seats filled.
Both parties are on 23 seats right now, Sinn Féin is on 10 and Labour is still on just 1 (Joan Burton). The remainder are spread out between independent candidates and the smaller parties.
12 constituencies are continuing to count overnight.
Paul Murphy (PBP-AAA) has taken the second seat in Dublin South West just now.
In Waterford, occasional renegade Fine Gael TD John Deasy has been elected, edging out Minister of State Paudie Coffey for the final seat.
Mayo has just announced the results of the seventh count there with two sitting TDs – Michael Ring (FG) and Dara Calleary (FF) - looking set to be elected in one of the next counts.
My colleague Orla Ryan, who is at the count centre, says that the final seat is a battle between sitting FG TD Michelle Mulherin and newcomer Lisa Chambers (FF). Here are the figures:
The returning officer has called it a night and counting will resume tomorrow.
Labour has taken its second and third seats in close succession just now: Brendan Howlin has taken the first seat in Wexford, while Jan O’Sullivan has taken the last seat in Limerick City.
Michael Noonan took the third seat in Limerick City, just ahead of Jan O’Sullivan, but he didn’t make it easy for himself.
Michael Moynihan and Aindrias Moynihan (both FF) have both been elected on the 9th count in Cork North West.
They’re coming in fast now. Joan Collins (Ind) has been re-elected in Dublin South Central.
In Clare, Michael Harty (Ind) has taken the second seat. He ran on a No Doctor No Village platform as part of a campaign to secure local GPs in rural Ireland.
Carol Nolan of Sinn Féin has been elected in Offaly, taking the third and final seat.
People in Cork have been lighting bonfires to celebrate the election of independent TD Michael Collins in Cork South West:
Which led one of our journalists still here in the newsroom to note the power of the familiar name of the new TD:
My girlfriend’s mam lives in Cork and she told me yesterday that she voted for him literally because his name is Michael Collins
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The count in Dublin Fingal has been adjourned for the night after Independents 4 Change candidate Barry Martin requested a recheck (full story here - including how Fine Gael’s James Reilly looks like he could lose his seat). The count will resume at 10 o’clock tomorrow.
Dublin South West has just elected its third TD out of a total of five: Seán Crowe of Sinn Féin.
The final two seats look likely to be filled by Colm Brophy and Anne-Marie Dermody (both FG). However Peter Fitzpatrick, who was just eliminated, was an independent candidate, and his transfers may prove a boost to fellow independent Katherine Zappone. All to play for here.
From my colleague Rónán Duffy: Long-time Fine Gael strategist Frank Flannery, who wasn’t involved in this campaign, says that the party took “a bad beating today”, adding that “it is a very severe political setback”.
“Consequently, it is very much a crossroads time for the party in every respect,” he told RTÉ just now.
Asked about Enda Kenny’s future as Fine Gael leader if he isn’t able to form a government, Flannery said that:
I think, if for any reason another taoiseach emerges, then my personal opinion would be that Enda Kenny would take that opportunity to resign. If you look back through history, you will see that Fine Gael leaders have always done that.
Strong words there from the man who masterminded a number of Fine Gael’s previous election campaigns.
Sitting TD Catherine Byrne (FG) has kept her seat in Dublin South Central, taking the third seat just now.
The final seat will be between Catherine Ardagh (FF) and Bríd Smith (PBP-AAA) and will be decided by Byrne’s surplus.
Did Sinn Féin make a mistake running three candidates in Donegal?
The 5-seater count has just now been called off for the night, with only one TD (FF’s Charlie McConalogue) elected so far. Pearse Doherty is going to get in soon, but fellow SF TD Padraig MacLochlainn will be in a battle with independent TD Thomas Pringle for the final seat.
MacLochlainn will do well from the redistribution of the votes of the third SF candidate – but will it be enough?
Front page of tomorrow’s Sunday Independent suggests both Enda Kenny and Joan Burton will face leadership challenges following the results for Fine Gael and Labour.
James Browne (FF) has been elected on the 10th count in Wexford and, we can only assume, told the count centre that he “feels good” about it*.
That means that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are neck and neck once again, with 26 seats each.
*Sorry
Ok, we were joking – or at least, what passes for a joke at 2.35am in the morning – about James Browne (FF) feeling good… but he clearly wasn’t.
I’m going to hand over to my colleague Susan Daly for the rest of the counts still going on, but thanks to everyone for the comments, tweets, and cat gifs (or just for reading up until now).
Coverage will be continuing here throughout Sunday (and probably into Monday too) with breaking news and analysis as it happens. Thanks for sticking with us.
Hi all – Susan Daly here with the welcome news that another constituency has delivered a final result.
Roscommon-Galway has now filled all three seats with Fianna Fáil’s Eugene Murphy taking the final one on the eighth count of the night. He joins Denis Naughten and Michael Fitzmaurice who took the first and second seats respectively.
So that’s two independents and a Fianna Fáil TD for Roscommon-Galway; not an uncommon trend in the results we have been seeing today.
Dublin South-West has decided to do us all a solid and elect the remaining two TDs of its five seats with independent senator Katherine Zappone and Fine Gael’s Colm Brophy getting over the line on the 16th – count it, 16th – count.
However, Fine Gael have requested a recount so the returning officer will have a think about that at 10am.
This of course was the constituency where Fianna Fáil’s John Lahart topped the poll in a pretty surprising surge of 9,647 first preferences.
Counting in Donegal – where they are on the eighth count with just one of five seats filled by Fianna Fáil’s Charlie McConalogue very early on – has been suspended for the night.
We too are going to put this liveblog to bed, folks, and resume again early in the morning to bring you more analysis and news from this most astonishing of general election results weekend.
Enda has been at it for 40 days, lads. Norris has been at it for 40 years. How’s he been left out?
Missing David Norris, panti bliss/Rory o neill and katherine zappone!!
He is not a leader. A leader doesn’t hide behind his troops!!!
Norris has been at what for 40 yrs? Advocating underage sex?
@ Conor: Agreed. Norris has fought for equality his whole adult life. enda buttered some scones and went to pantibar.
I’m talking about Enda
@fact&ionlydealinfact play the ball, not the man. It’s an article acclaiming those who were influential to the Yes campaign.
My God the media doing it’s job for once, take a look at the story in the Washington Post, it quite rightly says FF and FG only got involved in the campaign actively when they saw it was definitely popular.
Nothing helps a general election campaign like being behind a popular vote
You’d swear by the way fine Gael and labour are celebrating they have won the general election. I didn’t vote yes for Enda or Joan I voted for the gay people of ireland. So Joan and Enda fxxk off this is not a victory for you or your parties,it’s a victory for the ordinary citizens of this country.
Agree Squirrel, no surprise that it was Hugh’s name that popped up at the end of the article.
Enda Kenny was only trying to score political points and has no place amongst the best campaigners for the yes side.
Hugh ‘I love Fine Gael’ O’Connell wrote this. Of course he is going to leave out the people actually responsible for this monumental achievement and substitute Enda Kenny, the man who nearly clatered himself over a flower pot while trying to run away from this question. Also don’t forget back before Rabbitte made his exit Enda said this was not even something he cared at all about! Enda should not even be mentioned in this article, and he would not have been if his own personal cheerleader wasn’t writing this muck!
The 1,201,607 people of Ireland who voted yes
Spot on !
At least 80% of which were heterosexual. Think about that, over a million people coming out to vote for something where they’ve personally nothing at all to gain.
Ryan Anth, I gained by the fact that at 35 years married, my marriage is no longer a discriminatory institution, I can look my gay brothers and sisters in the eye and say you were always equall but at long last we have given legal recognition to equality.
We love in a better Ireland and it is a better Ireland because of the magnificent and invaluable contribution of gay people to Ireland and to Irish society.
Yesterday we United and left the homophobes subdued.
I would put David Norris No. 1.
No question.
He did more than anyone at a time when it wasn’t acceptable to do so.
will david norris now try to get the age of consent reduced
Gerry
He was already associated with a group calling for that:
“…documents in the Irish Queer Archive detail correspondence between the International Gay Association and its support for a controversial paedophile group.
The association was based at the Hirschfeld Centre, Dublin, which was founded, funded and run by Mr Norris, who claimed in the Seanad that he wrote ‘one of three
papers which led… to the foundation of the association’.
It was an umbrella group for organisations around the world, including the National Gay Federation in Ireland, with which Mr Norris was also involved. Documents show that Mr Norris attended its workshops on behalf of the National Gay Front.
A letter to the association showed that, in the early Eighties, it ‘passed two motions. One called for the abolition of the age of consent, whilst the second called for an international solidarity campaign’ on behalf of the Paedophile Information Exchange.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2025339/David-Norris-told-conference-As-child-great-desire-molested.html
@Lasair/Aryan. How is your answer getting on ? How many kids did your lot ‘dispose’ of ???
I still await the answer as to why anyone should take you seriously ????
Ryan
You lie.
“He released the safest letters to be published. The ones that made people angry included stuff that wasn’t appropriate. It was stuff similar to what had been in the Helen Lucy Burke interview – more controversial views on underage sex.”
The Mail on Sunday uncovered the minutes of the first meeting of the Union for Sexual Freedom in the National Library of Ireland on May 10, 1975. The minutes stated “David said as a child it had been his greatest desire to be molested so he, more than most people, knows the rarity of the homosexual child molester.”
The newspaper also mentions Norris’ support for a pro-pedophile organization in the 1980s called the Paedophile Information Exchange. Norris was a founding member of the International Gay Association in the 1980s and passed two motions.
“One called for the abolition of the age of consent, whilst the second called for an international solidarity campaign on behalf of the Paedophile Information Exchange.
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/further-revelations-over-david-norris-views-on-underage-sex-127263293-237404901.html
F**k you Nazi weirdo. We’re all sick to the teeth of your unrelenting hateful nonsense.
Alan
Show where the “hate” is, so far you and the “YES” voters are the only ones to spew hate. You are sick of people showing the truth because it disrupts your cosy vision of life. How tolerant of you.
Says the guy terrified of letting go of *his* comfortable notions of life in the face of the reality which surrounds them.
Waterford Whispers News have been brilliant, bringing much needed levity to a serious issue.
I salute you .. whoever you are ;-)
As has Roddy Doyle
That’s so true :)
How could you omit Panti Bliss/Rory O’Neill?
I can’t remember seeing him during campaign? If he decided to keep a low profile to minimise risk to yes vote, then fair play to him. No offense intended, by the way.
Rory single handedly exposed the Iona Institute for what it is. A massive win.
No O’Brien, Quinn ,Bopp or Waters ?!? Without whose insanity there never would have been such a strong turn out. ;-)
Rory canvassed in Dublin Bay North. Fair play, Rory!
I nominate all the normal Mammies and Daddies of Ireland I met on the campaign who despite being deeply religious were voting Yes because they felt it was the right thing to do. I know for a lot of them it wasn’t easy so I salute them.
Let’s keep in mind that politicians did not bring equality to Ireland. The Irish people brought equality to our island.
True but they enabled it and for that they deserve some credit.
Panty Bliss!
Ailbhe o’ Nolan, deserves to be on that list she put in a relentless super human effort in helping to bring about equality for the LGBT community in ireland.
Serious question: who’s idea was the referendum day one?
David Norris started it all decades ago.
I agree with Martin, Ailbhe deserves to ‘be on this list and so does Helen Ryder and everyone who canvassed for a YES
Totally agree! Ailbhe O’Nolan, what a powerhouse of a canvasser! She is a total icon in my world!
Here here!
Go Ailbhe!
I am also nominating and giving out a HUGE shout out to #TeamAwesome, the canvassing team in Dublin South-West. We were formed by Katherine Zappone and went on our first canvass in a snowstorm in February. Directed by Darragh Gennocky, we knocked on 25,000 doors and had 11,000 conversations. We were still canvassing in Tallaght on Friday from 7am until 9.30pm.
To Sean, Shane, Steph, Jo, Neil, Niall, Caroline, Ruth, Adam, Ann, Martin, Geraldine, Brendan, Phil, Derek, Ailbhe, my lovely wife Philippa, our daughter Jenny and many many more – WE WON!!!!!!!
I had the pleasure of getting to meet Ailbhe this evening, was glad to finally get to give her a hug! I shall take this opportunity to add to this outpouring of appreciation for her – she deserves it!
The women of Ireland were magnificent.
Sadly it was older men in my demographic who were least open to the justice fairness and decency of marriage equality.
Respect to all of you who posted patiently, rationally and persistently in the face of reactionary abuse from the No side.
Eh, what?!?!?!?! Martin look what you started. I won’t be able to fit through doors cos my head has swelled so much.
Thank you all but it is undeserved. I was just stubborn, that’s all.
The person I would add to this list is Max Krzyzanowski for his work with LGBT Noise over the years. His unfailing determination and untold eloquence. What a man.
Lastly, holy $hit, am I equal?!
Yes Ailbhe!! Max Krzyzanowski has been on Vincent Browne, Newstalk 102, BBC Radio 2, and countless out her outlets passionately, informedly and articulately campaigning for the Yes side! For me he should be first on this list!!
I second all the shout-outs for Ailbhe, but would like to add Anthony Lang to that as well. He appeared as a new commenter on the journal and has tirelessly, calmly and reasonably argued the cause for equality. Anthony, I wouldn’t be surprised if you influenced quite a few men in your age-group to see things differently :)
Jane!!!! Hello. Agreed, Anthony was a wonderfully knowledgeable commenter and an asset.
Well said! Ailbhe should definitely be on the list!
David Norris was the trailblazer and today would not have happen without him. No 1 always!
Eamonn Farrell should be on that list. My drama teacher for 10 years and a kinder or friendlier guy you won’t find. Shaped thousands of kids’ positive outlook from their time in NPAS, instilled confidence in the people he taught and was advocating for this long before it become popular to. Delighted for him, his husband, and every other Irish person who were finally placed on an even footing!
Eamon and Steven are fantastic. Beautiful and generous men .
Helen Ryder was a great motivation to me and did magnificent work.
Maynooths Welfare Officer Síona Cahill and the rest of the staff at Maynooth SU. Outstanding work all year getting students registered & more importantly actually getting them to use their vote & Síona was the one who came up with #MakeGraTheLaw which ended up being the USI’s main campaign slogan!!
I was just about to comment about Síona! She did an amazing job in Maynooth! She got over 3,000 students registered to vote and the #MakeGráTheLaw was genius
Getting out the youth vote was critical to this. Nice to see a union engaging in politics that has a real effect on peoples lives instead of farting around banning softdrinks from their newsagents as they used to in years past.
Síona definitely deserved a mention not only was she behind #MakeGraTheLaw and but also #PollingBoothPickUpLines which provided some lighthearted humour on a very stressful day for all involved in the campaign. She was named welfare officer of the year and registered thousands of students in Maynooth to vote and encouraged them to use their votes not only did she do that but she also helped sort out lifts to leixlip for postal voters who couldn’t make it home due to exams. She’s inspired many people in Maynooth university that the student body passed our own referendum about what stance the SU would take on supporting the referendum which passed at 91% . She tirelessly campaigned through out the term putting up posters around Maynooth town and supported a lot of other campaigns in Maynooth doing all this as well as being on hand to students almost 24/7 with any other questions or problems they had. She’s truly inspirational.
Panti Bliss/ Rory O’Neill! :)
Please add Izzy Kamikaze’s name to the list. Decades of outspoken common sense
Veteran (she’ll hate me calling her that) equality campaiger @IzzyKamikaze who campaigned tirelessly and with unending civility in face of adversity. She definitely deserves a spot on ur list.
Seconded!!! Izzy has so so much to be proud of :)
Interesting observations about Fianna Fail and their useless fence sitting. Can we not just consign Fianna Fail to the dust bin of history. Surely the few decent ones would be welcomed by another party of their choice.
And Kilkenny/Carlow voted in another one today. My god
Averil Power went up hugely in my estimation during the SSM Referendum campaign. Have no idea what she is doing in Fianna Fail.
Fianna Fail’s fence sitting is just so typical of them. Opportunistic to the core, they want to be on the SSM Yes bandwagon, but don’t want to piss off their core rural voters, who are more likely to vote No.
I know we have clown running the country but surely that panti fella is an embarrassment to the marriage equality campaign. He lacks credibility.
Credibility? Panti practically won the referendum for us. What did you do?
No, the good people of Ireland won it for you. Such a childish comment! You have a very short memory.
And you’ve clearly no idea what you are talking about. In any case it doesn’t matter a jot now. ‘Yes’ won the day. Sorry a drag queen made you so uncomfortable. Go Panti!
Uncomfortable no. Just think he’s not a great representative to have. Don’t forget who voted yes. And it is a great day for equality and with the world watching.
Name calling reflects on yourself.
Have you all forgotten Simon Coveney. He led from the front with a superb social media campaign and buried Ronan Mullen in a debate.
I wouldn’t call them heroes, if anything their zeroes. Homosexuality is unnatural
You should try it Gary as you are so obsessed about it. You might actually like it.
Gary , you’re just a sh’t stirrer . there’s no need for it at all .
F*ck off Gary.
Gary homosexuality is natural, found all over nature, homophobia is unnatural, found only in humans!
Not as unnatural as your ugly polyester tie
so is rape and incest are they natural to?
Yes Gerry. If it occurs in nature it is natural. Natural doesn’t mean good!
Gary thinks more about gay sex than gay men do
Little article regarding homophobes that might interest you :)
http://m.livescience.com/19563-homophobia-hidden-homosexuals.html
Get s life you fool
Demise
Homosexuality is the rare condition in nature which proves the rule that in fact it is not the norm, meaning therefore it is not the natural condition, furthermore it has been shown that an increase in certain pollutant chemicals in the ecosystem has led to increase in abnormal special sexualities, again unnatural and a result from human detrimental effects on our natural environment.
Lasair, where has this been shown? Cite your sources please, or why should anyone believe your claim?
Annett Temple,
Having trouble finding the published article, can you provide a link? It would be interesting to look at the methodology and control that was used and also peer reviews.
What does indicate some element of prejudgment is Richard Ryan’s liberal use of the term “homophobia.” Scientifically a phobia is a medical condition, homophobia is a political term.
This video does not project confidence that the study Annette alluded to is anything more than vodoo science.
Malachi
Hypocritical how more often than not the “YES” voters don’t have provide citations or sources for their comments but always insist on others doing so, and I will:
two major reviews have revealed that the chemicals are having a much greater impact on animal behaviour than anyone suspected. Low concentrations of these pollutants are changing both the social and mating behaviours of a raft of species. This potentially poses a far greater threat to survival than, for example, falling sperm counts caused by higher chemical concentrations.
Researchers have also shown that increasing numbers of male western gulls hatched from eggs exposed to DDT attempt to mate with each other. In recent years, scientists have also found that lead affects the balance of gulls, while atrazine makes goldfish hyperactive and the chemical TCDD makes the play behaviour in macaques rougher.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6343-pollution-triggers-bizarre-behaviour-in-animals.html#.VWHrZag1jGg
The omnipresence of these chemicals and their engineered potency make them prime suspects in a global epidemic of gender-bending aberrations observed in wildlife as well as people.
In Florida, as many as 40 per cent of “male” cane toads in agricultural counties were found to be hermaphrodites. So, in Canada, were a smaller number of polar bears. … Lyons’s summary, for a British foundation, reported observations of abnormal testes in fish, frogs, turtles, birds, bears, mink, sea lions, whales and panthers; other physical deformities in the genitalia of alligators, otters and polar bears; and precursor proteins to egg-laying in otherwise male fish, amphibians and birds.
http://thetyee.ca/News/2013/06/17/Gender-Bending-Chemicals/
Norris should be No 1
Mrs brown I just don’t get her /his placement on this list.
I think the contributions of the children of same sex parents like Finn Murray in the Irish Times are worthy of mention.
Panti! Supply poll…. Panti has led this referendum.
Thankfully he was low profile during the campaign. I voted yes for equality, not for that clown.
YEARS FROM NOW MANY HERE CELEBRATING WILL DENY THEY EVER VOTED “YES”
A shameful day for all “YES” voters who in years to come will be pleading how they voted “NO” when the scandals of a new humans-to-order industry unfold. A shameful day for Ireland going from one child abuse scandal to investing in a future child abuse scandal which will be far larger. Children bought and sold on the desires of adults, people in foreign countries used as baby factories and their psychological needs trampled on, Ireland has given the green light to the objectification of humanity, a leader it would seem today, in the degeneracy of what is precious and humane, the green light for big business and paedophile rings to serve up their human cargo and lay waste to little children who have nobody to speak for them. Disgusted with the LGBT lobby, their Huxleyite tyranny and the unthinking masses who bought their lies and emotional manipulative “equality” buzzword lie. Extremely sad at the future children who are going to have a world inside their heads of complete darkness and misery leading to abuse or murder of them. Just horrible and all the triumphalist “YES” voters here are responsible, enjoy your false and adult-centric selfish celebration, in years to come these words will haunt those of you who still have an independent brain and conscience. There will be many of the “YES” voters, denying they ever bought the deception of the word “equality” and who voted “YES”.
You need a ride, mate.
Lasair , I think you need to let it go now , the people have voted , all you can do now is accept it . really it doesn’t affect you so don’t worry about it .
Lasair, unlicensed surrogacy has been available in Ireland since the technology to do it existed. Today has not altered that. Sorry to disappoint you
Lol
I just ordered my new baby on Amazon.com/surrogatesales.
Wayne , you’re wasting your time , he knows all this already .
@Lasiar you do know what hate speach is don’t you.
My balls, your chin!
Suzie
I never accept anything that is wrong, whether 1 or 1million vote for it. This is clearly wrong, the battle has only begun and this merely a campaign in a wider war. Anything that affects and enables the exploitation and harm to children concerns all people of conscience. This doesn’t end here.
Thomas
Tell us what your version of hate-speech is?
So very depressing
@ Lasair “Anything that affects and enables the exploitation and harm to children concerns all people of conscience” Says the man who campaigned for a no vote in other to facilitate hateful organisations such as Iona, mothers and fathers matter / the catholic church who have openly admitted that they believe it show be written in to our constitution that a child should be raised by a mother and father. In order so that they can pursue their true agenda and go back to the days where babies were snatched from their single mothers arms and sold of to the highest bider in the name of giving them a mother and father. While completely engorging the notorious track record of abusing and facilitating the abuse of children by the church. The Irish People have seen through your lies and have spoken. You have lost your war against single parents, gay parents and their children. Never again will the catholic church get their hands on the vulnerable children of Ireland. Shame on you sir sham on you.
For me it’s David Norris by a mile. The people of Ireland learned to love him because of his honesty and openness.
How bitter are you hugh not to mention gerry adams who has been calling for the rights of the lgbt commuinity for the last 40 years and the work he has done up north for this cause ,as it stands gerry is pushing for the same rights that lgbt got today for the whole island of ireland ,but dont let your bitterness and twisted fine gael logic get in the way of endas agenda
Labour asses are been wipped in carlow and kilkenny while fine gael have had so far at least 18% of their vote taken back by the people ,
If i could be gay for a day it would be today
Thank god im nursing a hangover and wont be out of the house tonight
but nothing about the rights of abuse victims, or the victims of terror.
Lasair, David,Gary, Fintan should be sent to Roscommon to live , with there like minded folk ,
How many days was Enda out canvassing? Did he canvass across the country? How many debates, televised or not did he take part in? you are taking the piss, journal
Darragh Genockey worked his socks off along side Katherine Zappone, organising the Yes Equality campaign in Dublin South West. You only have to look at the numbers of people who came out to vote in areas such as Jobstown and Killinarden to see the hard work paid off.
Carly, we are now officially #TeamAwesome! Go Darragh, Martin and Ann Gennocky!
Where’s Rory O’Neil aka Panti surely she should get the number 1 mention.
People are celebrating, and for what? Down the line here there will be children that are going suffer as a result of this awful decision. God help this country.
I know, I know… Those homosexuals all have an agenda that involves brainwashing or converting children to their ways! Oh wait….that’s religion I was thinking of. Sorry.
A child needs a mother and a father. If you put a child with two men or two women the child will not have a balanced upbringing. It’s not natural in my opinion.
And same sex parenting had nothing to do with the referendum Rambotious. Nobody was being asked for their opinion on same sex parenting, only on civil marriage equality. A no vote would never have had any impact on same sex parenting, and regardless, the research shows children raised by same sex parents do just as well as kids raised by heterosexual parents… So your opinion is misguided, not based in fact at all. A yes vote was the right vote. It offers more protection for families, and sends a great message to young lgbt people that their love and relationships are just as worthy of protection and recognition as their peers.
Indirectly this referendum had everything to do with same sex parenting and you know it. you can argue all you want but im entitled to my opinion. As mammals we were built a particular way, physically and mentally to look after children. Allowing equal rights to allow children to be placed in imbalanced relationships is wrong
A child needs unconditional love…It doesn’t matter where they are getting it from – a mum and a dad, two mums, two dads, one mum or one dad. Ps… Jesus had two dads. Just saying
Your right Annette they do need love but they also need lots of other things provided by both a male and female influence (ie as nature intended) . Again I must state that this is only my opinion.
“Allowing equal rights to allow children to be placed in imbalanced relationships is wrong”
That is not what this referendum granted. It granted civil marriage rights to same sex couples. Marriage is not a requirement for raising children Rambotious. I know you are entitled to your opinion, however I am entitled to mine also and I believe yours is misguided. The evidence shows children raised by same sex couples are raised just as well as their peers with heterosexual parents.
You have said “the evidence shows” on more than one occasion now. There is no evidence that you could show me nor the many hundreds of thousands of other people that voted no on Friday that gay people could do the same job as straight people in raising children. It’s just not possible. I’m sorry to disappoint but there will be consequences to this mess down the line.
I read your posts on the other thread and you are actually revolting, the stuff you said in reply to that animal. Your equally as bad as him. I’m not interested in continuing our discussion, and for fear of what I might read or see, I won’t be opening your link. Good night.
Good night! I’m equally as bad because I mentioned cunnilingus and blowjobs is it? And the fact that 40% of heterosexual couples engage in anal sex? Do you have a problem with discussing sex or something? We are quite a sexually repressed nation, it causes a lot of damage, people find sexuality a difficult thing to come to terms with and feel it is dirty because of sexual repression. There’s no harm in discussing it as long as it’s in a civil manner. I take offense to being likened to Joey though, he clearly was looking for a reaction, the way he discussed it was revolting. Your refusal to continue the discussion though, your refusal to look at the link I posted, very convenient for you. Very convenient way of holding onto your misguided opinion. They are simply studies done which show that same sex parenting is no worse than heterosexual parenting. In response to your comment that ” There is no evidence that you could show me nor the many hundreds of thousands of other people that voted no on Friday that gay people could do the same job as straight people in raising children. It’s just not possible”
You have no idea what you are talking about. Seriously, our kids are our lives – you don’t get to tell me how to raise my own daughter.
Well 50 years of scientific research on attachment says your opinion is wrong
Demise
You lie.
The “no difference” theory is dead
It will be impossible for critics to ignore it, as it is based on more data than any previous study — 512 children with same-sex parents drawn from the US National Health Interview Survey. The emotional problems included misbehaviour, worrying, depression, poor relationships with peers and inability to concentrate.
After crunching the numbers, Sullins found opposite-sex parents provided a better environment. “Biological parentage uniquely and powerfully distinguishes child outcomes between children with opposite-sex parents and those with same-sex parents,”
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/the_no_difference_theory_is_dead
Also:
Same-Sex Marriage Is Harmful to Children
Fathers reduce behavioral problems in boys and psychological problems in girls.
According to decades of research, the ideal family structure for children is a two-parent, mother-father family. That research consistently shows that children raised in such families are more likely to thrive—psychologically, mentally, and physically—than children reared in any other kind of family configuration.
Extensive research also reveals that not only mothers, but also fathers, are critical to the healthy development of children. Swedish researchers reviewed the best longitudinal studies from around the world that assessed the effects of fathers on children’s development. Their review spanned 20 years of studies and included over 22,000 children, and found that fathers reduce behavioral problems in boys and psychological problems in girls, enhance cognitive development, and decrease delinquency.
Trayce Hansen is a licensed psychologist
The family law does need sorting. But less face it arguing some thing isn’t natural is longer a good reason to argue against it in a technologically capable society. So now we really do have to think abouts what’s best for the children. Heterosexual men have been far more wronged in the family law act than gays. Children born out of marriage still don’t have the same protections as those that are. Equality for everyone. Marriage is a contract nothing natural about it. Love is.
That sullins guy is a Catholic university proffessor….not biased at all I’m sure!
Anti-gay Conservatives Latching On To Regnerus-esque Flawed Study About Same-Sex Parenting
CHRISTIAN WALTERS 02/12/2015
Because who cares about scientific rigor in the search for facts when you can just mimic a famously flawed study to produce the results you want? Not Donald Paul Sullins, a Catholic priest and sociology professor at Catholic University of America. Sullins is a fellow of the Marriage and Religion Research Institute, a project of the Family Research Council, and a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus, so objectivity in his research is already on extremely unstable ground.
Sullins pulled data from the National Health Interview Survey from 1997-2013 to determine whether or not gay couples make good parents. Unsurprisingly, Sullins’ results drew him to the conclusion that same-sex parents are unfit, despite the fact that Mark Regnerus – who oversaw Sullins’ study - created a study that was flawed to the point of uselessness and a separate, more reliable study in Australiafound the opposite.
Think Progress dismantles Sullins’ studypiece by piece, pointing out the myriad of flaws present, including the oh-so-small detail that Sullins has no information about whether or not the couples in the data he pulled were actually married, or that somehow according to Sullins’ study gay couples are significantly worse for the upbringing of a child than a single parent.
I think Maire Geoghegan-Quinn should be there too, Ireland was so different 20 years ago and she had the courage to decriminalise homosexual acts. Wonder how things would have panned out if she was FF leader rather than Bertie
Ken Curtin of Yes Equality Cork. Put in a massive campaign.
Ken was magnificent.
@Lasair I don’t get the connection between your concerns and the constitutional wording change.
Thanks to all of them they and others helped change our country for the better.
No mention of Panties. Even the gays don’t like him.
Chuck Feeney.
The man who funded the campaign.
It wasn’t the biggest “yes” the country saw, but the work of Declan Donohoe and Donal MacAodh in YesEquality Longford was astounding, and saw the Longford campaign punch well above its weight. Well done lads!
Young Declan Burke and his team done some great work here in Dublin South West. He also made a great case for the rights of young people to be treated equally within the democratic process
Yes those politicians sure believe in equality, so much so that family legacy is alive and kicking.
Riyadh Khalaf definitely deserves a mention too!
Darren McMahon @darrenmcmahon54 on Twitter. Put his heart and soul into campaigning in Clare & Galway
You left out psi president Dr Paul dalton who dispelled the disgusting misuse of psychological research by some whom had tried to wrongfully argue against same sex parenting . He spoke passionately about the Shame that society made him feel as a young gay man and how regardless of the outcome today that such shame had been lifted and his country supported him #proudtobeirish #proudofpsi #hometovotearmy
I would like to nominate the thousands of #hometovote returning emigrants who went to a lot of trouble to get home to cast their vote. I am sure that their example prompted a lot of younger people living here to actually get out and vote for the first time.
Good point!
Panti?
Brian Sheehan and all others at GLEN?
Who decided this?
The UCD SU had a huge part to play
Ucc Su need to be mentioned here. They alone registered 4000 students to vote for this referendum and canvassed like there was no tomorrow. They deserved a mention. Did the same, if not more than TCD.
Is that a fact? That Ireland is first to have same sex marriage right written into constitution? I know we’re first to hold referendum, but it’s the first time I hear the constitution bit?
What?? No Marian Keyes on the list?? shocked
Fintan Warfield & Chris Curran
When I saw John Lyons top of the list for no reason as he did nothing in the campaign I knew that Hugh had wrote this article and I was correct.
David Norris!!!!
Síona Cahill!! Welfare Officer in Maynooth SU and #Hashtag queen! She came up with #makegrathelaw and even #PollingStationPickUpLines she did unreal work and has done for months!!! Definitely deserves a spot above!!!
I think Declan Flynn deserves a mention. http://politico.ie/archive/night-they-killed-declan-flynn
Add Brian Sheehan, Noeleen Cummins, Grainne Courtney, Orla Howard, Des Crowley & all at Doctors for Equality, Peter Ward and all at Lawyers for Yes
Having just now watched the John Lyons campaign video for the first time, If I’d had a vote, I’d have voted yes based on the simple sentence questioning “why not” said almost at the end the video.
Unfortunately I didn’t follow any of the campaign for Yes or No, as it doesn’t come on my radar therefore doesn’t matter to me and I hadn’t paid any attention. Well done to those that managed to ensure enough people did pay attention and voted for their choice.
Roderic O’Gorman and everyone else in the Green Party who were the first to put Marriage Equality on the political agenda, fought an uphill struggle to bring in Civil Partnerships without which we would have never had such a result, and who have been knocking on doors for months.
Here I am Dave, time to reply here too, I know ya miss me
Enda Kenny? Last time they asked him about gay marriage he almost got taken out by a potted plant while trying to run away from the question! David Norris deserves more credit than the coward Kenny!
Oein De Bhairduin, who leads LGBT Pavee and campaigned in the Traveller community for a Yes vote
Eamon Magee.
An honest look in the mirror is on the cards.
Would you defend those who claimed interracial marriage was “wrong”, “unnatural”, “would harm children”, “would make a mockery of marriage”??
Am …nothing personal – But who the hell is “Buzz O’Neill ” ?
What happened?
Well done Journal ….think Grainne Healy could be added to the list
have your say