ya, Saturday’s are for sleep and sex… then more sex and beer….

… and if it’s yes it can be challenged as the Supreme Court decision has to have effected other people’s votes too. I doubt I’m the only one who has changed from YES to SPOIL

Spoill…. So you went with a yes by default vote. Doesnt that abdicate your responsibilty to someone else?

No, there was no “default” position. I had considered the arguments and had decided to vote YES – all things being equal. That changed when things were no longer equal.
Not only was the government found to be in breech of the law in relation to it’s #crref campaign, but we have to wait until **after** the vote before being allowed to see the detailed judgment. Also, their line of argument the day before polling was, “The High Court had no problem with it”………… Eh government, by any chance would mind respecting one of the main pillars of democracy the day before you ask people to vote.?
….. and yes, that does put the vote in the hands of others, but in what I feel is a purposeful way. I preferred to do that rather than stay at home. As with either a YES or a NO, a majority SPOIL would send a clear message of being unhappy.
To me it seems like the government actively tried to subvert the McKenna judgment. It was a simple thing to avoid breaking that law and I did not feel right voting YES, and the NO side has ludicrous arguments.

I’m just glad that I did not feel strongly about this referendum, because my decision would have been even more difficult than it already was.

If the result is a “No”, and they gather the reasons for them, address them and make the necessary changes as they did in Lisbon Part Deux, why shouldn’t there be another vote?

The way you, and others, speak of the re-referendums you would swear that nothing was different from the first time around, which is absolutely incorrect.

Why have a vote at all if the government of the moment is going to keep amending the wording of something until they get the result they wanted in the first place…. That just reeks of corruption, deception, deceit and dishonesty….. Thats why the government should neither have a view either way on a referendum nor be allowed to circumvent the democratic process by demanding only one possible outcome by hook or by crook.

No. The proposal is carried by a vote of 1.

i always thought it had to be 29% anything less and its not passed……I could be wrong

As long as there’s a simple majority the amendment is put in place. But there should be a minimum really.

If we really cared about our children, why do we accept class sizes of 30 plus? Load of bullshit.

It is often difficult to verify quotes found on the Internet.

John Lennon

well said and fantastic name

Yup….and how much did this referendum cost us??? Will pay for it next month!

It’s paing over 2000 euro to people (most of which are shoe on jobs) to count the votes sickens me. 450k on the dole, pay them 1000 to do it and withdraw a months social welfare people are still up a couple of quid and the state is up millions…

I know…. I think in some twisted politican reality they thought that we would somehow enjoy this and not be thinking about the budget. They dont really give us much credit in the intelligence stakes do they?

Yes it sickened me to see 4 teachers working in my polling station this morning . I work between contracts and am out of work at the moment and a bit of work like that would have been welcome. I did apply but the teachers have it sown up.

I clicked on that link and ..nothing . Page not found ! . Do you have another link maybe . Thanks.

i tried it earlier too Eileen, i had thought it may have been blocked as the ref was in progress, guess not :(

Thanks Laura , I tried it there just now and still no joy :)

there is a second link on the Examiner page which will get you there.

Thanks Richard
Got that link.

Same in Dublin 15.
People seem to be so disheartned.
I wonder if there was a government satisfaction vote would it get people out and whst would be the result.

People are sick of this government yes, but I don’t think that’s why the polling stations are empty, they’re empty because a hell of a lot of people haven’t bothered to get off their arse and go vote.

There certainly is that.

Jacqueline Shaw
You are dead right . People just will not get up and vote . They sit and moan and complain and ask ‘what are we going to do?’ or ‘Ah shur there is no point in going/doing…etc , nothing will change’ or ‘what can we do , no one will listen’ .
They won’t attend information meetings, they don’t want to hear what needs to be done only what somebody else has not done .They never ask What can I do? Let me help.

I agree

Well I voted… I wAs the only one there

Voted at 10.45 and presiding officer said vote ve ry high

Utter apathy and indifference to a political system and a government that has failed it’s people immensely. Even though it is inappropriate to hit back at this useless shower by means of a childrens referendum, it nonetheless shows that people have given up on this broken model of democracy. Doesn’t bode well for the next general election.

Agree David and look forward to you calling for Saturday voting for all future elections and referenda.

You’re deluded Higgins!

Hardly the most inspiring referendum.
Much of the problems could be dealt with by implementing current laws and providing more resources.
The Supreme Court decision is pretty important, imo, too…… Despite agreeing with the text, it’s more important that the government act legally when approaching referendums.
Couldn’t support it. SPOILed my vote instead

I would rather see a referendum on bringing the scandalous wages these goons pay themselves down.

Then you would get a turnout. Considering Kenny gets paid more than Cameron and Obama and all he does is tell us what he is told to do by the real bosses.

Obama has a salary of $400,000. Kenny has a salary of €200,000, which is roughly $250,000.

So no, Enda Kenny does not earn more than Obama.

red thumbs?!

The mere mention of Cork is like a red rag to a bull to some people in a certain part of the country. Hint, it’s a city in Leinster.

Actually they didn’t say the information was skewed they said the booklet promoted a yes vote. The actual facts in the booklet were accurate.

And as for not making cuts, a dose of reality is needed here. Cuts need to happen in all areas. On top of that education and health are two of the biggest costs to the state. How can they avoid all cuts.

Finally saying you agree with protecting children but are voting no to “send a message” is deluded! How the hell is the government supposed to know what obscure point you are trying to make when you vote no. Send your messages to the government during a General Election or by writing a letter. Anything else is ridiculous

Emma Ryan
Well said .

Cooperguy
There will be a message sent in the next GE , but you know people are so mightily fed up and who can blame us for wanting to send a message at any opportunity? People are tired of waiting and nothing happening . Trusting and being disrespected by the very people we voted in to look out for us. We are tired of being broke , being asked for more, being worried. It is like Emma says ”If this government really cared about children they would not be making health cuts, educational cuts and taking money from their [tax-paying] parents that could be used to provide a better quality of life for them. ” The government should not have used public funds to promote the yes vote . Sly ,that is what that was and they knew exactly what they were doing .

Speak for yourself Kevin. The Referendum Commission, a proven impartial entity, has published information on this referendum for months.

I didn’t read it, because I literally do not care about the proposals one way or another, but the information was there and it’s people’s own fault if they’re ignorant to the proposals details for not having read what was available.

@sean “I didn’t read it”
If you didn’t read it how can you know what information it contained and whether it was impartial or not?

@Joseph – Because I know it exists and I know RefCom are impartial from both previous experiences with their service and indeed I believe there has been court judgements to the same effect, if I recall correctly.

So sean
How did you know which way to vote ?

@Eileen – I didn’t bother voting.

and yes I voted

@ Sean If we were living in a different country I might be glad of the prospect of the downfall of this government – my worry right now is who we have to vote for instead of them!!

@Séan – You weren’t asked to vote on the quality of the government’s campaign, you were asked to vote on the proposed amendments to the constitution. Congrats on making an absolute sham of our democratic process.

Sean that is an idiotic thing to do.
This government are far too arrogant and power hungry to go anywhere till they are voted out (look how long it took for FF to go)
This was not about the governments popularity

Sean I hope your right I voted no today for the same reason.

I voted No ,for childrens rights. The legislation already exists with the one exception of adopting children of a married couple . But I was not going to vote yes just for this one thing .

@max. Dana and John waters say no so has to be a yes.

I did the very same, marked so hard that even an eraser wouldn’t take my no vote off.

Any mark in the area of the ballot paper as long as the intention of the voter is understood will be accepted.

I bet its a bit warmer there than here!

SeanNorris, yeah very hot at almost 34c today but in nite, it’s freezing.

Why?

I actually agree with that. Even if they spoil their vote in protest ,at least they got off their arse.

CONSPIRACY!!!!

They always use pencils

@Julian, yes, at least they’d care enough about their future.
not like the majority of adults.

@Sean, why??

@Richard – A few reasons but mainly:

1. From what I had read, everything proposed in this already exists in Irish legislation, it’s just not being enforced and a referendum won’t change that

2. It concerns children and I have absolutely no interest in them or matters surrounding them.

That’s being honest. People, mainly parents, will eat me for the second reason but I genuinely do not care about children and know large numbers who feel the same and similarly aren’t bothered voting today. The government themselves know that many feel this way, hence Gilmore coming out recently to basically say that they’ll only run referendums on Saturdays again if people turn up to this one, why there have been LOADS of texts/emails sent from the political parties asking people to please go out and vote, why there were campaigners on Grafton Street during the week begging people to at least turn up and more.

They’ve ran a referendum that they thought would get them good points, only to find that most people simply don’t care about the issue at hand at the moment.

@Sean, thanks, good reply, but giving a NO vote would enforce what you said, the absence of your NO vote could mean the success of those who vote YES.
it is the result of the voting that will count , not on your, or my, personal opinion outside the polling station.
I dont agree with the changes , so I vote against them.this is one extra vote on the NO side.

@Sean If you have that many reasons, you should have gone on and voted.

@ Sean I’m shocked you can say that you don’t care about matters concerning. Genuinely shocked. Yes I’m a parent but that’s not why I’m shocked. I can understand an individual who doesnt have kids not being interested in kids but I can’t understand an individual not being interested in the welfare of fellow citizens regardless of their age.

u could have transferred ur vote. very easy. ur an adult u shudnt need the govt to hold ur hand voting.

i never said i expected them to hold my hand, i do however expect them to do their jobs right. i couldnt transfer my vote because i didn’t know if i’d be in Tralee this weekend. so next time how about being an adult and not jumping to conclusions?

use the postal vote system , its so simple

Agree with you that they should have had it last week. But you’ve known the date for ages, Ciara. If you were really that concerned with voting, then you should have planned to be wherever you needed to be to make it happen.

@ciara You have nobody to blame but yourselves. Move your vote to where you live. Your arguement doesn’t stand up at all. Also, you are voting in a referendum and nothing else.

@Ciara, once you register for the postal vote, you will be sent the ballot paper etc maybe two or three weeks before voting day.
then it does not matter where you are on that day, follow the instructions (simple) and post your vote.
even if it happens that you are at home on that day, you do the same, follow the instructions, and post your vote,
could’nt be easier.
you will be kept on that system for one year.

@ Claire Duffy I voted and agree it is an important subject but the information issued regarding the proposed ammendment by our “govt” was lacking clarity as proved by the court order issued other day….

I’m not a bit ashamed as I was actually working to try and pay bills

fair play if you work since nine this morn till ten tonight…I’m just making a point that people who just don’t bother their arse…it should be made the law to vote..like Australia voting is compulsory for every Australian citizen aged 18 years or older. If you do not vote and do not have a valid and sufficient reason for failing to vote, a penalty is imposed. For further information see Compulsory Voting.

I didn’t vote because I have absolutely no interest in the proposal and as such read nothing about it. The information was there as it always is but this referendum just isn’t in any way important to me and I honestly do not care whether it’s voted through or not.

Unlike seemingly the majority of people in this country and especially on this site I don’t believe in voting when I know nothing about what you’re voting on, so I’ve stayed home today and had an otherwise enjoyable day.

@Frank – That’s a cop out. The Referendum Commission has provided impartial information on this referendum for months, free for anyone who wanted to read about it. Claiming ignorance and blaming the government is not an option.

@Claire – I would be absolutely opposed to mandatory voting. Democracy here is already spit upon by bastions of people marching down and voting on a proposal based on how they feel about the government that day, how their stomach feels at the time etc. The people who read up about the proposals and actually consider what they’re being asked to vote on are a tiny minority here.

Impartial information is made available for months, almost nobody reads it and instead rests their decision on what some poster says which leads us to a situation that we have where opposition members can make terrifying, unfounded claims such as “This proposal will bring in mandatory abortions!” and people will believe it and vote it down.

Was working since 8 and couldn’t be
arsed driving 240km round trip to vote,waste of petrol for something I haven’t a clue about

It’s called been out on patrol. If they stayed in the station all day you’d complain they were never out patrolling the area! Dont worry, your small station will probably be closed by the end of the year anyway. You’ll be delighted then

Bit unfair Patrick. The Garda are on patrol I would imagine and no extra Garda to man the station.
There should be a clerk there to attend to it.
Lazy is one thing they aren’t.

Lads, I realise they have to be out patrolling and they can’t be doing clerical work all the time.

But when there’s hours put up on a notice board in black and white showing what times they’re meant to be available at the station for the needs of citizens (in my case, to get registered to vote), they should be there.

So if a call of a traffic collision comes in they ignore it to be at the station at specified times….sounds sensible alright. Sometimes I don’t think people put alot of thought into their assumptions

So, Anto, you didn’t bother to find out what is good or bad for the children of our country,why not ?

@Mary, “take us all for idiots” explain.

So you need an invcentive? How about a no vote to keep the constitution as it is or yes to chage it? I voted no btw.

Damn. You must have had to go somewhere for something very important!
As for me, I voted by post last week so I’m free of all responsibility today :)

This referendum will have absolutely no effect on who is in government.

If we had a general election tomorrow Fine Gael would win the top place again. Support is still almost 1/3rd for them, with Fianna Fail getting about 21%, SF getting 20%, Labour getting 12% etc.

I’d vote if I actually cared, but I don’t, so I’m not.

To be fair it’s too cold to vote

its no wonder that this country is in the sorry state its in, when somebody actually admits that they “dont care ” about our children, or that its “too cold to vote” or “too lazy”,
can any of you come up with a good reason for these pathetic excuses?

Absolutely Richard. The very same people who bitch and moan on this website are the ones who never do anything about anything. Disappointing to think that a referendum concerning the children of the state is getting ‘can’t be arsed’ type comments.

@Eimer, and notice that none of them have been able to defend their reasons.

It was a joke. Sarcasm. Lost on some people.

@Phillip, thanks for that. accepted.

@Richard – why would I care about other’s peoples children?

I spend 20-30 minutes extra in traffic every morning due to other people’s children, I’m not spending my free time reading about something that concerns only them and then going out and voicing my opinion on their behalf. They milk enough off me as it is.

@sean – BOOM!

Sean you still talkin. you’re extremely boring n full of drivel. cool u have no kid’s. wow you don’t care bout kid’s. so fukn what!

@Sean, thanks for your reason , try not to sound so bitter about the existence of children though,.

These children will be paying taxes to supply the state with money to look after you when your old. You were a child to at one stage. I think some people post comments to stir the pot. Can someone really be so negative about a child.

Are you on something? because you’re making absolutely no sense, just wild inaccurate generalisations.

Of course they’re a minority, do you not see that they’re wrong about absolutely everything?

General Election – COMPLETELY wrong.
Fiscal Compact – Wrong.
Lisbon 1 and 2 – Wrong
etc.

They’ll be wrong again now. You’re right that it is a tiny minority, who sit around all day winding each other up but you have to remember to not take them seriously – nobody else does.

Absolutely disgraceful ,lying , generalisations for comments . You are so far removed from the truth of what is in fact happening in this country that I pity you. ” they couldn’t even be arsed getting out of bed to vote, let alone improve themselves.” You sad little person .