Dublin tallies: Constituencies show strong support for Yes side

Many Dublin constituencies are showing support for Yes side running over 70%

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett keeping tally at the Dublin county referendum count centre in Citywest, in Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Timesmes
Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett keeping tally at the Dublin county referendum count centre in Citywest, in Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Timesmes

Tallies in Dublin confirm the Yes side is on course for a landslide win in the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment.

The results also support the findings of an Irish Times exit poll showing 68 per cent of people had voted Yes.

With counting under way since 9am, early tallies available from Dublin constituencies showed all are supporting a Yes vote.

At the RDS count centre there were huge cheers from Yes campaigners as final tallies were announced by tallymen for a number of constituencies.

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In Dublin Central it was 76 per cent for Repeal of the Eighth Amendment.

The highest Yes tally was in Arran Quay at St Adrian’s National School where 87.87 per cent voted Yes according to the tally projections.

Labour Party tallyman Paul McConnell said this probably included votes of the supplementary register, all of which votes go into one box.

In Cabra East, the percentage 'Yes' tallies reported from the boxes being counted in Christ the King NS were as follows , 77.42, 72.29, 74.82, 76.85, 71.25. 70.56, 72.59.

In Cabra East A1 (Shandon, Phibsborough, voting in St Peter's NS, Phibsborough),  the 'Yes' percentage figures, according to the tallies, were 76.08 and 61.16.

In Dublin Bay South the final division was 78 per cent in favour and 22 per cent against repeal with 106 boxes, including one for postal votes of which there were an estimated 471.

Tallyman Conor McWade said Rathgar and Terenure were showing slightly more for Yes than Ballsbridge and Sandymount but only by about one per cent.

In Dublin South Central was 74.71 per cent yes and 25.29 per cent No with an estimated 61.7 per cent turnout. But the turnout figure was deemed "very unofficial".

Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh said Cherry Orchard and Chapelizod were showing over 80 per cent in favour of repeal.

In Dublin North-West, tallies of half of the votes counted so far showed a 74.9 per cent Yes vote. One box from Iona Road, Drumcondra showed 84 per cent support for the referendum.

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall, who was involved in the tally for her local constituency, said the results were “really really encouraging.”

Support for a Yes vote was “extraordinarily strong, right across the constituency,” she said.

In Dublin South West a tally from 11am, based on 67 per cent of the boxes, showed that support for a Yes vote was at 75 per cent. Boxes particularly in "older" parts of the constituency are in the high 60s but there are a lot of boxes with Yes votes at 80 per cent.

In Dun Laoghaire at 11am, with 26 per cent of boxes tallied, Yes votes were running at 76.4 per cent and the No side at 23.6 per cent.

In Dublin Mid-West, where a final tally was completed just before 11.20am with all boxes opened, the Yes side is 72.6 per cent with the No side at 27.1 per cent. Turnout was 62 per cent.

Eoghan Murphy

Minister for Local Government Eoghan Murphy who has responsibility for the referendum said the formal result is unlikely until 6pm because of the high turnout.

He has described the expected clear outcome of abortion referendum campaign as “overwhelming”.

Mr Murphy's constituency colleague Labour Senator Kevin Humphreys, predicted a Yes vote of more than 80 per cent in his Dublin Bay South constituency.

A tally of five select voting boxes in the south Dublin constituency shows support for the referendum at “80 per cent or more,” he said.

Mr Humphreys has been calling the election results in his constituency, which uncanny accuracy for more than ten years, based on a sample of five ballot boxes. The five boxes, taken from different points in the constituency, are tea leaves which Mr Humphreys tries to read what way the vote is leaning.

"It's huge, a major change for the country. It's a total flip of the vote in 1983" he told The Irish Times at the RDS count centre.

Using this formula he correctly predicted Michael D Higgins would be elected President, and that the referendum on judges pay would pass comfortably in 2011. "It's not an exact science," Humphreys said, whose early predictions have earned a regular count day following on Twitter.

The exit poll conducted for The Irish Times indicated a 68 per cent to 32 per cent Yes vote. That poll, which has a margin of error is estimated at +/- 1.5 per cent, saw 4,000 voters interviewed by Ipsos MRBI as they left 160 polling stations on Friday.

As predicted, urban areas appear to have been more strongly in favour of repeal, at just over 70 per cent. But according to the polls, rural areas also voted Yes, with around 60 to 63 per cent in favour.

A total of 3.3 million citizens were registered to vote in Friday’s referendum.