Polling stations for the Lisbon Treaty referendum opened for almost 800 registered voters off the northwest coast today
Ballot boxes were shipped and flown off Donegal to Arranmore, Gola, Inishbofin, Inishfree and Tory Island to let about 800 early voters have their say on the treaty.
Donegal islands have traditionally voted ahead of the rest of the country because of the possibility that bad weather might cut them off.
King of Tory Patsy Dan Rodgers said people on the 5km long island, which is 12km off the north coast of Donegal, would have preferred to vote on Friday like most of the population.
"They would like to have the vote on the same day to have the last opinion - now you're going to miss a few TV and radio programmes that could be quite serious between now and then," he added. "But there's always a good enough turnout on Tory. It's like a marriage – for better or worse they'll come out and vote."
On Inishfree, where just seven people are registered to vote, the ballot box arrived by ferry with a Garda escort.
Barry Edgar Pilcher's cottage was transformed into a polling station for the day as the 66-year-old entertained voters with tunes on the not-so-traditional saxophone. "I was first to vote and I'm the supervising officer as well so I've been getting the tables and the sandwiches ready," he said. "We look after our voters here."
Air Corps helicopter crews had been due to take ballot boxes out to the islands and collect them in a whistlestop tour but low cloud and poor visibility forced officers to postpone.
On a misty and overcast Arranmore, two stations had been set up to accommodate the island's 700 voters.
Presiding officer Mary Gallagher said inhabitants were not well enough informed about the treaty first time around. "They didn't know enough about it. Hopefully this time now they will," she said.
About 1,200 voters on the Aran and Inishbofin Islands off Co Galway are set to go to the polls tomorrow along with about 200 voters on the Mayo Islands of Inishbiggle, Inishturk and Clare Island.
Meanwhile, almost 500 islanders off the coast of Cork will vote along with the rest of the country on Friday.