Sir, – The image that has really stuck with me from Saturday is the tiny and diverse group of people who remained in Dublin Castle as the result of the vote on the care amendment was announced.
These people represented the views of the people of Ireland far more accurately than the hundreds of politicians and NGO employees and supporters on the Yes side who were notable by their absence.
My fervent hope is that this is a watershed moment where we stop being afraid to admit that it’s okay to agree on some things with people with whom we disagree on many other things and that we refuse to accept politicians dismissing people with labels like “far right” and force them to engage with the actual issues.
The Irish people have sent a reminder to our political parties that we are able to think for ourselves. It’s time they started to listen. – Yours, etc,
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‘I could have gone to California. At this rate, I probably would have raised about half a billion dollars’
E BOLGER,
Dublin 9.
Sir, – Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that “it was the Government’s responsibility to convince a majority of the people to vote Yes”. I wonder did they even convince themselves? – Yours, etc,
AIDAN RODDY,
Cabinteely,
Dublin 18.
Sir, – The outcome of the referendum raises a bigger question asking how democracy is working in Ireland. We know that at least 85 per cent of our TDs were recommending a Yes/Yes vote but only 32 per cent and 26 per cent of the people agreed with them.
The citizens’ assembly initially recommended such constitutional changes. Despite the frequently expressed view of many politicians and journalists, it is grossly wrong and statistically unreliable to present them as being representative of public opinion. Professional opinion polls use carefully selected sample sizes of over 900 participants.
Let us abolish the citizens’ assembly and insist our elected members in the Leinster House do a better job representing all the people. – Yours, etc,
EOIN Ó DÚNLAING,
Knocklyon,
Dublin 16.
Sir, – The day the Irish people “woke” up? – Yours, etc,
PATRICK McPHILLIPS,
Newcastle,
Co Down.
Sir, – The only comfort the Government parties can draw from this debacle is the fact they were able to hoodwink nearly all Opposition parties in supporting their dreadful amendments. – Yours, etc,
PAUL WALSH,
Skerries,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – I fear that if this Government does not amend its housing, health and immigration policies to what the average person on the street wants (and it might be no harm to actually listen to them), the door will be opened for groups on the extreme left and right. Time to forget the special interest groups and start talking to the grassroots. – Yours, etc,
GERRY SHAUGHNESSY,
Moylough,
Co Galway.
A chara, – The Government and NGOs have recently received a swift kick in the posterior. They turn, desperately scanning the crowd for the miscreant. Is it the far right? Is it men demanding a steady supply of sandwiches from their tradwives chained in the kitchen? Was it culchies or the working class or whichever group it is that can’t understand how to vote? Or just meanies with no compassion or generosity?
No. It was women. Look, here we are! And we’ve got our boots on. – Is mise,
GERALDINE HALPIN,
Dublin 7.
A chara, – Hopefully the results of the referendums were sufficiently conclusive that none of your columnists feels tempted, as they routinely do when the great unwashed fail to get with the programme and comply, to pull the magic “far right” rabbit out of the hat. – Is mise,
DAVE SLATER,
Kilkea,
Co Kildare.
Sir, – Eamon de Valera 2 – Micheál Martin 0. – Yours, etc,
LOUGHLIN GANNON,
Foulksmills,
Co Wexford.
A chara, – The scale of the defeat of these proposals shows how out of touch the Government is with the people. The care referendum resulted in the largest No vote on a referendum since the Constitution was enacted in 1937. The failure of the Government and Opposition parties to engage with the public’s genuine concerns at removing mothers from the Constitution, and the failure to define what a “durable” relationship would be, are in my opinion the main reasons why the electorate rejected these proposed amendments. The irony is that they picked International Women’s Day to hold a referendum to remove a reference to mothers in the Constitution, which backfired spectacularly.
Credit is due to the Aontú, the only political party to call for a No vote, in addition to a handful of politicians and people with disabilities who took their campaigns to the ordinary people of Ireland. Here’s hoping that the Government, after eating a large slice of humble pie, will indeed respect the reasons why people voted No. – Is mise,
EAMONN O’HARA,
Manorcunningham,
Co Donegal.
Sir, – It’s a good day for democracy when, despite being urged by all the main political parties to vote Yes, the people have voted a resounding No to both amendments to the Constitution. The people have spoken. They have voted No for a whole host of reasons but not because, as some politicians have suggested, that they didn’t understand the issues involved. – Yours, etc,
ANNE MASSEY,
Dublin 14.
Sir, – The electorate was not confused. The Government was. It didn’t get its messaging wrong. It got the wording wrong. Do not do this to the electorate again. Let there be no more unendurably worded amendments and spare us your aspirational “striving”.
If you want to enhance support for carers and those in need of care, just legislate. Is that really too much to ask? – Yours, etc,
PÁDRAIC HARVEY,
An Cheathrú Rua,
Co na Gaillimhe.
Sir, – Labour leader Ivana Bacik, looking at the early tallies, leaning heavily toward a No/No outcome, said that “the Government ran a lacklustre campaign”.
I beg to differ. “Reminding” NGOs in receipt of Government funding that they would have to explain themselves if calling for a No vote and holding the ballot on International Women’s Day all point to a Government desperate to achieve its aim. Thankfully, the electorate weren’t fooled, and there may be, after all, hope for our country yet. – Yours, etc,
PETER DECLAN O’HALLORAN,
Belturbet,
Co Cavan.
Sir, – I am delighted to hear members of all political parties, far and wide, left and right, state that they are willing to accept the results of the two referendums. I was not aware, however, that there was any other option open to them. – Yours, etc,
EAMON FARRELL,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – I resent people interpreting my No votes to suit their own agenda. I made up my own mind from the beginning that both changes were unnecessary and unwise. – Yours, etc,
SHEILA DEEGAN,
Dublin 3.
Sir, – I suspect that most people, including myself, who voted No on Friday in both referendums thought they would end up on the losing side or at best would win by a narrow margin.
It is absolutely incredible that both referendums, which all parties, except Aontú, supported were defeated with such high margins.
The silent majority have roared. Despite being told time and time again that the emperor was wearing beautiful clothes, they could clearly see he was as naked as the day he was born. – Yours, etc,
TOMMY RODDY,
Ballybane,
Co Galway.
A chara, – Jennifer Bray informs us that “getting the support of the National Women’s Council was key for the Government’s campaign in the referendum” (“Five reasons why the Yes side failed and the No campaign won the day”, Analysis, March 10th).
For me, the support of various NGOs was, in fact, key for the No campaign. Many of these NGOs and the ideological legislation the Government pays them to promote are both held in contempt by many Irish voters. If our main political parties don’t get this message now then they never will. – Yours, etc,
REAMONN O’LUAN,
Dublin 14.
Sir, – The politicians and pundits are floundering as they try to spin a self-serving reason for the referendum drubbings. The result was nothing other than a clear demand from the people to a grossly incompetent Government to pack its bags and collectively ship off to the land of gold-plated pensions. – Yours, etc,
JIM O’SULLIVAN,
Rathedmond,
Sligo.
Sir, – It seems, according to the Taoiseach, that the referendums failed because the Government misjudged the “mood” of the electorate.
They failed because the Government misjudged the brains and common sense of the electorate.
It is hypocritical of various parties and NGOs (Sinn Féin, Labour, the National Women’s Council, etc) seeking to blame the Government for the failure, when they too advocated support of the referendums, notwithstanding the wholly inappropriate wording. – Yours, etc,
VA ALEXANDER,
Dublin 2.
Sir, – The political parties are all discussing why the two referendums were rejected. Has it occurred to them that it had nothing to do with their campaigns? It could be as simple as the people did not want to change the Constitution so they voted No. – Yours, etc,
GAIL HANBIDGE,
Coolkenno,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – Has the current Government still got a durable relationship with the Irish people? – Yours, etc,
FINNIAN E MATHEWS,
Skerries,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – The vast majority of politicians called for Yes votes but now some are claiming that they didn’t agree with the wording. Populist politics? – Yours, etc,
AVRIL HEDDERMAN,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – It’s very irritating to listen to representatives of Sinn Féin, Labour and the Social Democrats claiming that the Government “got it wrong” regarding the referendums.
These parties all supported the referendums so they all “got it wrong”. So can they please spare us the ridiculous platitudes and admit that they all totally misread the situation? – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN O’REILLY,
Portlaoise,
Co Laois.