Revolting Peasant
Voting No meant that children of Married parents who had abandoned them could not have been adopted and would have to be fostered for their entire childhood. That’s the kind of guy you are. Trust you’re not a parent or specifically one of those parents!

People tend to vote both ways regardless anyway.

I think all posters should be banned because of the mess they make I’m still seeing election posters and the fact they are on nearly every pole on roads to distract drivers, most important the cost of tax payers money for something so inadequate as we all got leaflets or visited the web

Good point Daryl

I bet there’s a positive correlation between those who didn’t pay the Household Charge and the NO Vote and a bigger correlation between those who had a bogus Non Resident Account and a No Vote.

Well I think those people put off by the Supreme Court decision should have gone and spoiled their vote. That’s what I chose to do as I didn’t think the referendum should have gone ahead after the ruling. I stated this on my ballot paper. Not that anyone read it I’m sure but I feel it is important to exercise your franchise in an appropriate way.

Gemma, if they had an issue with the Supreme Court judgement then they should have made it their business to vote ‘no’. A ‘no’ vote means the proposal is not carried and the constitution remains as is. A new proposal to amend can be put forward at a later stage. If you don’t vote then you are allowing other people to make the decision for you. If you spoil your vote, you have just wasted your time and are allowing other people to make the decision for you.

@Paul – I really can not fathom why you wrote on your ballot paper when the only option was Yes or No and by what you are saying you should have voted No to have your voice heard. Your action was completely inappropriate and your voice has not been heard.

Brian, please don’t tell me how I should vote in a referendum. I chose to exercise my franchise in the way I described for the reason I explained. People should be responsible enough to go and vote unless there is a good reason that they can’t. How they do so is up to them after that. I’ll ask you to respect that.

Hi Julie,
As it turns out the Kerry North/West Limerick result had been left out of the list above – I have it in there now. I think your eye did the same as mine when reviewing the list – Kildare North came straight after Kerry South and it was easy to read it as ‘Kerry North’. Anyway, apols for the omission – it’s a 53.65 Yes and a 46.35 No in Kerry North/West Limerick. Thanks! S

Dec
I am pleased you only voted ” after you done plenty of research” . Way to go guy!

My opinion/observance of Northern Counties bothers you to the point of personally attacking me by making fun of my surname? Real class there. I’m going by on what I see and the pattern.

@kevin niazi, I apologise. The mis-spelling of your name was a typo. I would never resort to using your name to make an argument.

If you want to vote then move to the Republic Of Ireland. Whether you like it or not you live in the United Kingdom and unless you move that is very unlikely to change anytime soon, if ever.

Paula
You don’t subscribe to our Constitution. Remember the vote we all had to say you’re not one of us until a majority of you want to join us and then we have to have a vote to say if the converse is true?
Well……that’s why you can’t vote in a Referendum down here!

What’s wring with the rest of us more like?

*wrong

Nothing! We vote based on the info we’re given and we didn’t get enough fair info to cast a proper well inform vote!

Dec, you couldn’t find out for yourself? You clearly have the tools. Or would it be too much to ask? Handout much?

@Dec voted yes and from Donegal. Didn’t need money spent on documentation it was important enough to find out for myself

Donegal is beautiful and full of great hard working people, if you want to know what’s wrong with it is that it gets treated badly by the rest if the country, according to the last census it had the least % per population employed in public sector and least in a job with a union, one of the highest levels of unemployment.

I voted yes but fully respect their no vote

Jay, you respect a protest vote on a subject matter such as this because business won’t invest in your county. Surely your protest should be against the ineffectual TD’s representing you?

Donegal may have voted no but that doesn’t make it a protest vote.

The turnout of around 24% (embarrassingly low) meant the majority in both electoral areas totaled 4700 votes. That represents less than 4% of the electorate. Hardly something you can say is a protest vote for Donegal while simultaneously ignoring other areas that got pretty close to a no vote.

Oreilly I’m from and live in Dublin so Donegal is not my county, also just because they voted No does not mean it was a protest vote, I know many who voted no as they didn’t agree with it.

As a rural conservative part of the country where The Family is a big part of life, it may be they rejected it as they didn’t like some of the changes.

I never said that… I done plenty of research into this and I personally based my vote not on the info that was pushed in my face but on the fact that this amendment basically gives the state more power to protect children through and ambiguously worded article written into our constitution that in my opinion can be used to create laws that will also lessen the burden of responsibility on the state when it come to protecting our children! If I trusted the wording I would’ve voted yes, but I Didn’t trust the wording! I feel that we could’ve gotten much better for ourselves and our children out of this but there you go, we just accept the first thing that comes along! It’s done now! Can’t change it now!

Or maybe they realised this was more about balancing the books for the government than it was about protecting children..

Daryl you could be right. Stick it to the Gov cause we can’t have them saving money. Sure the children will be grand…No chance they’d make an informed decision rather than just a protest vote?

Is there any chance you could make a comment based on fact rather than painting all the people of Donegal with the same brush – I’m sure the people of Donegal realised this was about children and not about protesting. It would make more sense if you commented on the fact thy there was a 30% turnout rather than hitting out at the people of Donegal

SF constituents?

2011 General election – NE Donegal voted FG, SW Donegal voted FF.

apologies, that should have been SE only (not both) voted SF

Agreed! Only “well educated” people should be allowed vote from now on. The stupid peasants need to realize who’s running the country. I bet such educated people as politicians, doctors barristers and bankers would be best placed to run the country.

I’m sorry was Donegal the only place that voted no.

Belly up: I would say it is more to do with a perception that they are excluded, i.e. that government doesn’t “reach” them. This would also apply to marginalised voters across the country.

I couldn’t be prouder of Donegal and our complete lack of education and common sense. I didn’t even know disagreeing with the majority makes you a complete idiot. I read today ‘you laugh at me for being different, I laugh at you cause you’re all the same’. Too bad people thought so much of themselves that they thought it would be ok to vote how they wanted rather than how they thought everyone else would, shocking! At least there is only one or two bastids of that opinion. Anyways, back to the hill the turf will be in wile shape left it far too late this year.

condemned to what exactly?

@Valerie no one has to justify how they voted be it Yes or No to you,or anyone else for that matter.

What’s that taste??? Ah yeah, Sour grapes. Man up, and respect the decision of those that voted.

Voting yes hardly seems to be sitting on a fence.

What a complete arrogant answer. So what if people don’t agree with you we are spineless. Maybe some believe people who voted no was a pathetic attempt to rule against the government. It’s a democracy which just incase you don’t know every one has a choice whether yes or no

@David – So if you’re anti-government, you’ve backbone. If you’re not then you’re a coward and a sheep.

What intellect.

@Dee – The only reasons people voted no seems to be either to “stick it to” the government or because they don’t “trust” the government when it comes to children, despite having nothing to found their distrust on.

And they had the attention seeking Dana and Sinnott to lead them down their path of delusion the entire way.

people dont trust the government because they had persistently lied at every opportunity and they openly flouted the law in this referendum, it would be much harder to find examples of why they should be trusted

Thanks very much Peter, sorry we’re not good enough for you…. Great that you disrespect the result in donegal but are all for using democratic process because they disagreed with you up there.

Could we have a vote to deport Peter?

peter you a sad case.. what do you know about donegal that we dont??

What a stupid comment Peter….

Peter, you are embarrassing yourself with comments like that. perhaps you would prefer a dictatorship? we are blessed in this country to have a say on our constitution even if that say extends to challenged individuals such as yourself. but I respect that it does.

@Peter. what do you mean who could afford to keep them. Donegal probably gets less financial support than any other country. I think we should kick out gutless, head-in -the-sand morons like you instead, could save a lot more money that way.

that should be county not country, looks like im insinuating Donegal is different. Oh dear.

Peter, you are a grade A moron.

Guys, I think Peter was having a laugh… No need to get your knickers in a twist…

On a serious note, it doesn’t reflect we’ll on Donegal that nearly EVERY referendum that is put to them is voted down… Is it really about the issue or an anti-government stance?

Live in Donegal SW and to be honest did not think this would be the result don’t really know where the No votes came from or maby people just going against the grain like the last few times.

@ Peter Maybe if the rest of the country treated us like we were part of the Republic in the first place, and not Northern Ireland, then votes might start to reflect that.
@ Winston When you have a county that has been more or less forgotten about in terms of funding for things like infrastructure, public services, healthcare (cancer patients being made go to Northern Ireland for treatment) etc. etc. people start to become alienated…….

Maybe the no campaign up there was better than anywhere else?

Part of Dublin rejected the amendment too. do they think they’re a state unto themselves also? Do you honestly think there was a county wide conspiracy in Donegal to vote no? Really Sean you’re proof that common sense is about the least common thing there is!

We voted in the interests of children. I suppose your a typical civil servant lickin the govt ass while ur been shafted day in day out. Stuff for u

Your comment is totally unjustified. Who are you to take the choices of other people away. that’s their right whether yes or no. I voted yes and I’m from Donegal, your not from Mayo by any chance

@ Mark .. the reasons there was a no vote in that Dublin constituency is that there are a lot of socially disadvantaged families who historically have always been weary of government and law particularly in relation to the family and perceived interference. Donegal voted No because they just want to be different and are generally quite arrogant people

@ Brian I don’t work in the civil service you moron

Yeah Brian, you should know by now that Sean is “between contracts”…. apparently he doesn’t like the term “unemployed”.

Sean, don’t be an eejit, respect the outcome of democratic process and don’t let your clouded view of any constituency alter that. Small mind sir, small mind.

You are a fool ? M?och?in.

It’s a simple majority. It’s passed.

Might want to brush up on how referendums work there Kevin.

You think wrong Kevin. It’s passed.

I’d love to know, out of interest Kevin, how many votes did you think we’re actually required?

U sayin wer all followers of sinn fein? Ur chattin out ur rear end

Kevin are you actually from Donegal? I am and I wouldn’t vote SF if there was nobody else on the ballot. Perhaps you should think twice about generalising an entire county based solely on facts you’ve clearly plucked from your backside.

Gemma I realize not all people in Donegal vote for Sinn Fein. But for some strange reason whenever there is a referendum in the ROI the Northern Counties vote “NO” and that is Sinn Fein terroritory. It’s also disturbing that Sinn Fein is the second largest party in Northern Ireland along with the DUP being the largest party in NI. Somebody is voting for these people obviously.

Kevin,
Up until Dec 2010, Donegal had never had a SF TD.
Can you explain why you think Donegal is such a strong SF county?
By the way, I never have nor will vote SF.

Dear god man what are you blathering on about?

then you don’t get to have an opinion on the outcome.

if you diddnt vote thats grand but dont say your from donegal cos youl b branded an idiotic sein fein supporting, bomb making , killers.. unlike the drug dealers that are in dublin .. o yes im callen all ppl in dublin drug dealers

Again Kevin what is your basis for spouting such complete and utter bile?

What is my “basis”? Look at the map and results of the last referendum. How many bombs have been put under school buses in the south? The mentality is clearly different for obvious reasons. The Troubles? There is a lot of anti-Americanism, anti-Israel, anti-West views in places like Derry and throughout Ulster by so-called “Republicans”. Supporting Sinn Fein is supporting terrorism.

What has Derry got to do with this referendum? Check a map there yourself pal…..

It was an example not relating to the referendum.

It was an example that didn’t relate to anything except geography.

Here’s some numbers for you:
Donegal may have voted no but that doesn’t make it a protest vote.
The turnout of around 24% (embarrassingly low) meant the majority in both electoral areas totaled 4700 votes. That represents less than 4% of the electorate. Hardly something you can say is a protest vote for Donegal while simultaneously ignoring other areas that got pretty close to a no vote.

The turnout was low throughout the country, not just Donegal? The reality is that the mentality of many people in Northern counties and alongside the border is very different from people down South. There is more extremism as you go towards the North. I would think that is obvious to most people. You will find a lot of anti-Protestant/anti-Catholic views as you go up North vs. down the South.

Lowest turnout was in Donegal by a significant amount.

As for a point you made in another reply – SF was recently put at 2nd most popular NATIONALLY in a poll.

Your assertion that Donegal voted No out of extremism is absolute rubbish to anyone who actually takes an analytic look at the numbers.

The 5 constituencies with the highest proportion of No votes were:
Donegal North East (59.7%) (Turnout 24.47%)
Donegal South West (56.5%) (Turnout 23.81%)
Dublin North West (50.4%) (Turnout 36.08%)
Cork North Central (49.9%) (Turnout 33.41%)
Dublin South West (48.1%) (Turnout 35.93%)
Avg – No vote 52.92% – turnout 30.74%

The 5 constituencies with the highest proportion of Yes votes were:
Dublin South (73%) (Turnout 40.92%)
Dublin South East (71.9%) (Turnout 33.44% )
Dun Laoghaire (71.6%) (Turnout 41.54%)
Kildare North (66.3%) (Turnout 35.04%)
Dublin North (64.8%) (Turnout 35.59%)
Avg – Yes vote 69.52% – turnout 37.31%

It’s obvious that low turn out was linked to a no vote. There certainly are political, social, economical differences in Donegal just like there are indifferent pockets in every part of Ireland. But your assertions are very weak when you look at some numbers. In addition to those above, there is also the fact that it would take only 4% of the electorate in both Donegal constituencies to vote Yes in order to be “in line” with the final result.

I think it’s pretty obvious that 4% is pretty much what we’re talking about – not every bomb-making northerner as you would have us believe.

I’m from Donegal and I voted No. But I don’t live in Donegal so it’s not my constituency. I respect the overall result in that it is democratic process – if you wanted a Yes vote then why are you moaning? If you wanted a No vote then …. why are you complaining?!

Sinn Fein is not the second most popular party; other polls would say differently. Polls are crap. If they were so popular there would have been a Sinn Fein Taeosich, President, or Sinn Fein government by now. It sounds like you like Sinn Fein? “2nd largest party” what was the point of that statement. The realty is Sinn Fein is popular in the Northern counties. Sinn Fein was pushing for a “No” vote in the last referendum the same Northern counties voted “No” while the rest of Ireland voted “Yes”. All the anti-American, anti-Jew, anti-West, anti-anything good have been these staunch Republicans from the North.

That’s funny I do believe SF 100% supported this and ask people to vote yes and not to use their judgements of the government to vote no. Some people talk a load of crap and you have the nerve to condemn Donegal. Just because Donegal stands up and uses their vote correctly not by force or pressure not because that’s what the neighbours are doing. You have a lot to learn from
People from Donegal it’s called individuality

Actually, no Kevin, I’m not a SF voter – I don’t think I’ve ever voted SF.

I do take exception to being painted with the same brush as others though, in pretty much anything. You’re making presumptions – I’m trying to look at it with a less bias.

Kevin I’m going to say this once and once only.. Donegal is one of the 26 counties that make up the Republic of Ireland. How people vote in the 6 counties is irrelevant and not to be used to generalise and explain voter trends in Donegal . The people of Derry, Antrim, Armagh, Down,Fermanagh and Tyrone are not eligible to vote in the ROI. Also if you are going to generalise the whole province of ulster as SF voting, bomb making hicks then I ask you this if what you say is true then why did the constituencies of Cavan-Monaghan and Louth, both of which are border counties and have returned SF TDs both return a yes vote? I suggest you go away and consult a map and familiarise yourself with the national boundaries. Furthermore next time you want to make broad sweeping generalisations about a county you clearly know nothing about, do everyone a favour and inform yourself first!