ITS NO

national | miscellaneous | news report

Thursday March 07, 2002 17:48

by Ciara O Connor

Still waiting for a recount in Galway, the Taoiseach has conceded that the referendum on abortion has been rejected. There should be a formal announcement before five o'clock this evening.

The result of the abortion referendum is a tentative NO.
With 1.8 million voters not taking the opportunity to voice their opinion, the Government has egg on its face.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has just announced that he has always had a commitment to the people having their say in any referendum. He admitted disappointment at the result. He said the result of the election will not change his own personal opinion.
With huge floods of criticisms regarding the organisation of the referendum, the opening times of the booths, and the confusion surrounding the wording of the referendum, huge numbers refused to vote, and many spoiled their votes, writing their disgust on the ballot papers. Some even went so far as to create a new box saying 'maybe'.
Bad weather was also cited as a reason for the low turnout, however, the Government can hardly be held responsible for that.
It has been speculated that the division would not be quite so thin if students had been given the day off to travel home to avail of their right to vote.
The disappointing turnout can be skewed by a number of factors but at the end of the day, Irish people's apathy cannot be excused. With six out of ten citizens not using their vote, the end result is a reflection of only 43% of our country's wishes.
There are many reasons why people didn't turnout. It has been suggested that the fact complex referendum is no adequate solution to the social problems that abortion and the debate surrounding it propose.
The lack of voting can be seen as a protest against the Governments inadequacy in this debate, whereby the referendum became an election tool for the good of the political parties.
It has been commented that the NO vote can be seen as a pro-life NO vote, from the efforts of generally conservative and right wing lobby groups and prominent spokespeople such as Dana.
However, many pro-choice lobby groups had a strong following after their protests and publicity in Dublin city centre.