Only 30% voted, although the referendum on chidren’s rights was passed, what does the low turn-out tell us. Were people happy with the referendum and not too worried that it wouldn’t pass. Or is there a disconnect between the NGO/political consensus and real Ireland?
There was a substantial number of voters who were very unhappy with the change, not trusting establishment Ireland on the issue – and the Yes campaign failed to engage properly with these fears.
But when we canvassed we found many people were not too exercised about the subject, and were happy to have it included in the constitution, so perhaps they just stayed at home. In the end the Irish people voted 60/40 to change the constitution to recognise the rights of the child, the average percentage result in Irish referenda.
