The official results make it clear that Ireland has voted yes to marriage equality. The final vote was 62.4% in favor of same sex marriage and 37.6% against. The yes vote was well over 70% in Dublin, and between 50 and 65 percent for most of the rest of the country. This is, on the face of it, an amazing result, given Ireland’s past traditions of conservatism. Two decades ago, in a similar referendum, Irish voters barely passed a measure allowing for divorce. Now it’s the first country in the world to vote for marriage equality in a popular referendum. How did it happen?
Pending an analysis based on detailed breakdown of the turnout, here’s what likely helped make the difference.
Turnout was extremely high
We are still waiting for final figures on turnout. It appears clear, however, that electoral turnout was closer to the levels expected in a general election, than the usual levels for referendums (which are substantially lower). There was a 2 percent increase in the number of registered voters, with a late surgesuggesting that many people registered to vote precisely so that they could participate in this vote.
Nearly universal support among the major political parties
All the major political parties urged a yes vote, including traditionally conservative parties such as Fine Gael (the main party in government) and Fianna Fail (which has been greatly weakened, but which has traditionally been the party of Irish rural conservative Catholics). Fine Gael initially did so with some misgivings, but agreed to a vote after Ireland’s Constitutional Convention recommended one. Its enthusiasm increased as it became clearer that gay marriage was a popular issue, and the Fine Gael Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, came out as gay in January of this year, helping to give political impetus to the pro marriage equality campaign. Enda Kenny, the Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) spoke candidly in public about the personal journey he had made in coming to accept the need to change the constitution to allow a more inclusive understanding of marriage.
Read the full piece at The Washington Post.
- Publication Type:Other Writing
- Publication Date:05/23/2015