Louth comprehensively rejects referendum proposals

Voters in Louth overwhelmingly rejected both the 39th and 40th amendments to the Constitution in last Friday's referendums.

71.2% of those who voted in Louth rejected the 39th amendment, which related to the concept of Family in the Constitution; while 77.1% voted to reject the 40th amendment, which related to care provided by family members to each other.

The Louth Constituency count of the ballot papers cast in the two referendums held on Friday last got underway at 9.00am the following morning at the Redeemer Family Resource Centre in Dundalk.

Local Returning Officer Mark Stafford, in his first Louth Count, had his team in place and promptly the first 34 boxes had their seals removed and their white and green contents spilled on to the separate tables.

Two count staff at each table were able to place the white and green ballot papers on either side. With over 200 ballot boxes in Louth, the operation would be repeated six times by the time all the ballot papers were revealed.

The traditional tally team was in place, albeit on a smaller scale, as Labour Party members - including Cllr Emma Cutlip and Cllr Elaine McGinley - with their clipboards and pens scrutinised samples of the ballot boxes in order to get an accurate prediction of how the referendum results would work out, and whether there was much of a variation north/south, or urban/rural.

By 9.45am. it was clear that the 39th Amendment (Family) was going to be rejected in Louth by a No vote in the region of 70%.

The 2,000 ballot papers sampled showed that the 40th Amendment (Care) would be rejected also in Louth, and by a greater No vote, closer to 80%. Spoiled votes were scarce, mostly ballot papers left blank, and no more than one in every hundred, or 1% spoiled votes overall.

By 10 0’clock the tally team had been boosted by the arrival of former Green Party Councillor, Mark Dearey, and two colleagues.

By 1.30 the tally had been completed, underlining the trend reported from the first sample of 2,000 ballot papers.

With some 50 boxes sampled by now on each poll, there was 20,000 papers tabulated on the clipboards, showing a 71% No for the Family Amendment, and a 77% No for the Care Amendment.

The variations were slight on the sampled ballot boxes. There was over 80% No, in the Family Referendum in each of Bothar Brugha, Drogheda, (Box 4), Aston Village ETNS, Drogheda (Box 2), and Fatima NS, Dundalk, (Box 3).

There was over 40% Yes on this poll in each of Redeemer GNS, Dundalk (Box 2), Whitecross NS, Julianstown (Box 3), and in the Baltray Box at Termonfeckin NS.

Meanwhile on the 40th Amendment (Care), a high No, greater than 85%, was recorded at Rampark NS (Box 1), Marley’s Lane NS (Box 5), Callystown NS, Clogherhead, (Box 1) and at Dunleer NS (Box 2).

The highest Yes (in the samples) in the Care poll at over 35% were at Blackrock NS (Box 4), Laytown NS (Box 4), at the Baltray box, again, and at the Lourdes Community Centre, in Yellowbatter, Drogheda (Box 4).

Turnout in the Louth Constituency was officially given as 47.6%, at the higher end for a referendum. The highest number of ballot papers, in any of the boxes tallied, was 440 votes in Donnacarney NS (Box 6), translating into a turnout of 66% there.