Thread: And that's official - Ireland votes for marriage equality

Ireland has now - officially - voted to enshrine marriage equality in the Constitution.

The country voted by a 2:1 majority in favour of marriage equality for same-sex couples, and made global history in the process.



Just over 62% supported changing the Constitution, with more than 1.2 million people turning out in support of marriage equality.

National returning officer Riona Ni Flanghaile officially declared the Yes result.

Turnout: 1,949,725

Invalid votes: 13,818

Valid votes: 1,935,907

Yes: 1,201,607

No: 734,300

Majority in favour of the proposal: 467,307

Just one constituency in the country voted No - Roscommon South Leitrim.

The highest Yes vote was in Dublin South East with 74.91%. The narrowest victory came in Donegal South West at 50.05%, where just 33 votes made the difference in favour.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Joan Burton spoke of their amazement at the result.

Mr Kenny said: "The people went to the polls. It passed. The answer is yes - yes to their future, yes to their love, yes to their equal marriage."

Ms Burton said: "Most of all, I'll thimnk of the children in every town, village and schoolyard who will now grow up knowing their country accepts them."

The first same-sex marriages are some months off, but the Health Minister Leo Varadkar has promised the legislation necessary will be passed by, July allowing for marriages by the Autumn.

Following the announcement, Yes Equality said in a statement: "Today, we are more truly a nation of equals. The people of Ireland have exercised their Constitutional right and by direct vote they have said an emphatic ‘Yes’ to Equality.

"We now join 20 other countries where same-sex marriage has been entirely legalized. We are the first country to do so by a vote of the people.

"This referendum was all about belonging - Irish lesbian and gay citizens had to ask the Irish people if they too can belong to Ireland and belong in Ireland. In their deep generosity the Irish people have said ‘Yes’– Yes, we belong.

"Today’s result means that having been 'branded and isolated' for decades, each lesbian and gay person knows now that they too belong in Ireland, as full, equal citizens.

"It means more. It means that lesbian and gay couples belong to each other in a rich, new, and profound way. That lesbian and gay parents belong anew to their children, and their children to them. And that mothers and fathers can now rest assured that their lesbian and gay children belong in the same way as all their children."

It means that all of us – lesbian, gay, straight, family members, friends, colleagues, allies, voters – belong equally to the Irish national family."

At the count today, shortly before the official result was announced, Senator David Norris thanked former Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore for first putting the issue of marriage equality on the political agenda.

And that's official - Ireland votes for marriage equality | Irish Examiner

Pog mo thoin, and they'll be able to do it now within connubial bliss.

Fuck the pope!

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

Fuck the pope!

Woo hoo! You go girl. You're "wing-man" can hold him while you fuck him.

There must be some new irish jokes out there, or is it only funny to laugh at straight Paddy and not the pink Paddy.

Welcome Ireland in the 21 Century. How does it feel not to be put in the same pot like countries...

1 Algeria
2 Angola
3 Botswana
4 Burundi
5 Cameroon
6 Comoros
7 Egypt
8 Eritrea
9 Ethiopia
10 Gambia
11 Ghana
12 Guinea
13 Kenya
14 Liberia
15 Libya
16 Malawi (enforcement of law suspended)
17 Mauritania
18 Mauritius
19 Morocco
20 Namibia
21 Nigeria
22 Senegal
23 Seychelles
24 Sierra Leone
25 Somalia
26 South Sudan
27 Sudan
28 Swaziland
29 Tanzania
30 Togo
31 Tunisia
32 Uganda
33 Zambia
34 Zimbabwe
Asia, including the Middle East

35 Afghanistan
36 Bangladesh
37 Bhutan
38 Brunei
39 Daesh (or ISIS / ISIL)
40 India
41 Iran
42 Iraq
43 Kuwait
44 Lebanon (law ruled invalid in one court)
45 Malaysia
46 Maldives
47 Myanmar
48 Oman
49 Pakistan
50 Palestine/Gaza Strip
51 Qatar
52 Saudi Arabia
53 Singapore
54 Sri Lanka
55 Syria
56 Turkmenistan
57 United Arab Emirates
58 Uzbekistan
59 Yemen
Americas
60 Antigua & Barbuda
61 Barbados
62 Belize
63 Dominica (But see “Dominica leader: No enforcement of anti-gay law” )
64 Grenada
65 Guyana
66 Jamaica
67 St Kitts & Nevis
68 St Lucia
69 St Vincent & the Grenadines
70 Trinidad & Tobago


??????????????

Remarkable, 2:1 is a pretty resounding statement by the voters.

Hopefully Irish tourism will receive a nice boost from the pink dollar.

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

Pog mo thoin, and they'll be able to do it now within connubial bliss.

Fuck the pope!

Yes, fuck the Pope.
Certainly not for the progressive measures referred to in the OP, but for all the detrimental damage that the Roman church represents and maintains.

Originally Posted by thaimeme

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

Pog mo thoin, and they'll be able to do it now within connubial bliss.

Fuck the pope!

Yes, fuck the Pope.
Certainly not for the progressive measures referred to in the OP, but for all the detrimental damage that the Roman church represents and maintains.

Ireland is no longer under the stranglehold of the church and hasn't been for some time. I can recalll working as polling clerk on various referenda in the late 80's and early 90's (divorce and abortion). I had been told to report to a fairly rural polling station some miles out of town and all these auld biddies were coming in telling me the bishop had told them to vote no, so that's what they were going to do...that generation had their last gasp years ago and the youth of today don't see the church as having any relevance to anything.

If anybody's interested there's an excellent book entitled "The Pope's Children", by David McWilliams an economist, which details the seismic shift in Irish society in the last 30 years...It's all about the generation who grew up in the aftermath of the Papal visit of 1979.

Originally Posted by quimbian corholla

Remarkable, 2:1 is a pretty resounding statement by the voters.

Hopefully Irish tourism will receive a nice boost from the pink dollar.

Homesexual practices were fully decriminalised in Ireland in 1993.

Queers from the U.S. flaunting their sexuality have been free to do so since then but I think their money is the same colour as all those who are not of that minority.

Gays got the result they wanted but a referendum is really not the best way to go about getting a "right" for a minority.

Seems the Parliament (law makers) passed the buck on this sensitive issue.

Originally Posted by HermantheGerman

Welcome Ireland in the 21 Century. How does it feel not to be put in the same pot like countries...

Ireland has had same sex civil partnership and since 2010.
Square-head land still does not recognise full same sex marriage. So you should add the fatherland to your list.

The kraut obviously couldn't work out the issue under referendum.

Not surprising when one considers their DNA.

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

The kraut obviously couldn't work out the issue under referendum.

Not surprising when one considers their DNA.

You reckon there's still a few Ernst Roehms about?

Oh God, yes! Scratch a kraut and you'll find a raging poof and sexual aberrant driven by some weird atavistic lust to put his cock somewhere,anywhere but the conventional repository.

In Aryan terms, I don't think their herrenvolk ever got over those finely sculpted, glistening thighs, rippling in dappled sunlight surmounted by bunched buttocks clenched in priapic anticipation of an oiled thrusting, as depicted by Leni Riefenstahl in her celluloid fantasy work of the 1930s.

Originally Posted by Norton

Gays got the result they wanted but a referendum is really not the best way to go about getting a "right" for a minority.

Seems the Parliament (law makers) passed the buck on this sensitive issue.

No, they asked the people to decide a sensitive issue. That way nobody gets to claim the government imposed this on them and the decision reflects the will of the people. It's called democracy.

That way nobody gets to claim the government imposed this on them and the decision reflects the will of the people. It's called democracy.

why do it for gay marriage but not for decisions on income tax, vat, benefit levels, immigration quotas and the severity or the leniency of sentencing for criminal offences or any of the other issues that the public would like to have a say about.

what is so unique about this issue that a it cant be decided by a parliamentary vote.

Originally Posted by DrB0b

It's called democracy.

In this particular case the yes vote was primarily due to a strong well funded yes lobby. What about minorities who do not have the means to sell their rights to equal treatment under the law?

Historically if left to the majority of the existing electorate many minorities would not have gained voting rights, equal educational opportunity, and freedom from any other form of discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity et al.

Rights to equal treatment is the responsibility of law makers and an independent judicial system. Not the majority.

I do understand the Irish Constitution requires a referendum before the Constitution can be amended. However, doesn't mean I believe it's a good way to go. Had the gay marriage vote had been a no, reckon gay folks would agree.

Originally Posted by DrB0b

It certainly doesn't sound like Ireland.

All countries have had "historical" changes to it's citizens rights. Ireland as well. At one time only male land owners could vote. Now all citizens can vote. Rights are hard fought for and need to be expanded and gaurded.

The passing of marriage equality is a positive move to giving "all" citizens equal rights.

Originally Posted by DrB0b

There has never been a time in the history of the Republic of Ireland when we did not have universal suffrage.

Republic of Ireland. Indeed a true statement. With minor exception.

Ireland however not true.

"This Irishman wanted to vote in the election of 1868. He believed that all Irish people had a right to have a say in what was happening in their country but he could not vote because he did not own a house. Only the wealthy had a vote. In 1884 he was allowed to vote for the first time. However, this right was denied to his wife, his mother, sisters and daughters because they were women."


"Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington. Much of Hannah’s life was spent working for the right of Irish women to vote. Hannah and her friends were harassed by politicians and the police because of their efforts to ensure that women could have a voice in saying how the country should be run.
In 1918 after a long campaign they succeeded in getting the right for women to vote. But they had to be 30 years of age and own property. In 1922 all Irish women over 21 were given the right to vote."

It's Your Right!

Getting off topic so I'll stfu now.

Originally Posted by Norton

Originally Posted by DrB0b

There has never been a time in the history of the Republic of Ireland when we did not have universal suffrage.

Republic of Ireland. Indeed a true statement. With minor exception.

Ireland however not true.

"This Irishman wanted to vote in the election of 1868. He believed that all Irish people had a right to have a say in what was happening in their country but he could not vote because he did not own a house. Only the wealthy had a vote. In 1884 he was allowed to vote for the first time. However, this right was denied to his wife, his mother, sisters and daughters because they were women."


"Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington. Much of Hannah’s life was spent working for the right of Irish women to vote. Hannah and her friends were harassed by politicians and the police because of their efforts to ensure that women could have a voice in saying how the country should be run.
In 1918 after a long campaign they succeeded in getting the right for women to vote. But they had to be 30 years of age and own property. In 1922 all Irish women over 21 were given the right to vote."

It's Your Right!

Getting off topic so I'll stfu now.

Sorry Norton, you're talking nonsense now.

You're talking about the United Kingdom. Ireland the landmass, not Ireland the state.

Who do you think

an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past

were?

The last line in your quote conflates two countries. In 1918 women over 30 in the UK were given the right to vote. At that time Ireland, the landmass, not the state (which didn't exist) was ruled by England. 1922 was the year Ireland became an independent state and there was Universal Suffrage from the get go.

If you want to talk about the UK go ahead but it's not relevant to this discussion, which is about a different country.