22 people vote at mental hospital

First voters:Among the first people to cast their vote in the election were 22 patients at the Central Mental Hospital in Dublin.

A total of 22 out of 29 eligible voters at the hospital cast their votes at a special ballot held last Friday.

It is the first time patients at the facility have been allowed to vote following a European Court of Human Rights ruling in 2005. The patients were registered to vote in Dublin South constituency. The remainder of the 83 patients were either foreign nationals or were not registered in the constituency.

Prof Harry Kennedy, clinical director of the Central Mental Hospital, said it was an important reminder that people with mental illnesses were as entitled to vote as other citizens.

"It's often said there aren't votes in mental health, but there are," he said. "Silent constituencies vote too."

The vote was overseen by the county sheriff and took place in the same way as votes in any other polling station, Prof Kennedy said.