It saddened me greatly that I cannot vote. I give a monkeys about that. And many more who would have liked to contribute. I know it wasn’t needed in the end but that’s not my point.
I would have liked to support my fellow country men and women. Maybe you’re right, maybe no one cares once we’ve left.
The only difference between my right and your right is money. In the name of tax.
Yes John, sounds like a good result!
Some of the videos of the elderly went viral. It’s refreshing to see a 101 year old woman stand up and feel her say is important. Mostly the elderly get a bad deal, so I am in admiration that they came to the party of their kins future 
The people in Ireland voted to provide marriage equality, for their neighbours, friends, family. Not to give the church a kick up the arse like Fr Ted.
The result is what it is, and suggesting it’s a war against the church is not very fair. It belittles the effort of nearly 50,000 people who returned to vote, the young people who registered so they could vote, the fence sitters, who wanted to finally get off the fence, and our aged population who made a mighty stand for their country folk.
The YES campaign concentrated on equality (NOT just gay marriage) and the NO campaign tried to bring abortion, divorce and adoption to the table. Completely separate issues that still plague us. It’s not about beating the church. And that is my belief.
Shirley, well done for sharing your beliefs. I would be a yes voter if I could have voted. I believe strongly in marriage equality. I want everyone to have the basic easy choice I had when I had a notion of getting married.
But it’s not for me or anyone to try and change your beliefs, unless they are regarding illegal and harmful issues like you mention above. And that’s for the law.
I also was schooled by the nuns, but they influenced me enough to demonstrate to me the illogic of their thinking.
The yes result will not redifine marriage in any way legally. Canon law is another matter but I wouldn’t expect a gay couple to be queuing up at the doors on the very institution that rejects them.
You are entitled to what you believe and value in your life. If you want to be convinced otherwise, go to the proper channels and get informed rather than relying on an institution like SFN.
PS to my previous reply. I’m not defending the church by any means. I voluntarily ex-communicated myself aged 15, too many made-made laws in Catholicism for me.
in fact I do see the size of the Yes vote being as much about giving the Church a kick up the pants after now reading all the replies and watching the TV news yesterday and today. The faith and values I learnt from the Bible and Catholic teaching, were about marriage of man to woman being for life, do unto others you would be done by and live by the 10 Commandments I might have left my OH 2 yrs+ ago, but we are still married, 47 yrs end July and our now separately lived lives don’t affect each other in the way they did when we were together. Neither of us have said we want to divorce, another sore point with the Church I know, but perceptions may change/or not sometime in the future!
I’ve been ‘married’ perhaps more to my beliefs and faith for no satisfactory or logical reason I can give, other than as John implied, and I second, its a long time living with your own basic beliefs, whatever they are.
I also remember as a youngster and experienced it in UK, when the plate was handed round for the collection at Mass on Sunday’s, you were expected to contribute whether you could afford it or not and some priests weren’t above suggesting it was a paper donation, not a Small change one, also the tales about the Priest going round in Ireland to lecture to families that they should not use contraception! It didn’t matter to the Church, (to me that means the human clergy who run it, not ’ the house of God’) whether or not you could afford to have a family, providing for the Church was the most important thing! I remember thinking all those years ago. All this learning took place in UK, I’ve never been to any part of Ireland.
Sorry to my Irish pals here, although my married name is Morgan, apparently his family went from Wales in 16thC to a little village in Eire (forgotten the name now) and my grandmothers family (Logue)went from N I to Scotland in 1800 something, BUT being brought up with Catholic values by nuns and the religion in Convents, I’m too old to throw them away now! I cannot and do not agree with the Yes vote for marriage between same sex couples.
I have absolutely no problem with anyone being gay or lesbian, sharing a home, OK, as long as doesn’t affect or involve me, but Marriage? NO! I just do not understand the logical or otherwise reasoning behind wanting to be married to a person of the same sex, when or wherever it happens, there isnt anything logical about it to me.
What consenting or otherwise people do or don’t do behind their own front doors, is not my concern, unless it’s totally illegal and/or physically/emotionally harmful to children, animals or other adults.
So to those in favour here of the YES vote, Explain and convince please, if you can.
True, but to go from trailing to leading the pack is pretty impressive. BTW Ireland is the SECOND best place to live in Europe :-)
Nobody gives a monkeys about that Elaine. For once an "Irish solution to an Irish problem" has worked in our favour. RTE was interviewing people returning just to vote at Dublin airport. Some came from as far away as Australia and it was seen as a very positive thing, which it was. Personally, I still have a house in Dublin and I still pay property tax there so I'll keep voting as long as it suits me :-)
There's a lot more work to be done Peter but the tipping point has been reached and steady progress should be made now. Even the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin has admitted this evening the Church is totally out of touch. The abortion issue is particularly painful because currently we are outsourcing the matter to the UK. Were it not for that, this issue would have been addressed years ago. The only women in Ireland who cannot access termination services today are those that too ill or too poor to travel. That can't be right and as a father of a daughter, and a medical student at that, I think we need to address it ASAP.
Also refreshing Elaine is that older folk voted yes. A pal of mine's octogenarian mother who had decided to vote yes was asked her pal at mass on Thursday how she was going to vote. When she responded yes her pal said "Oh but the Church won't allow it". Well, after an octogenarian on octogenarian debate they both voted yes :-)
John, unless you are still resident in Ireland (for many possible reasons), you have no right to vote.
We don’t get 15 years grace, we don’t even get 15 mins…
Peter, it’s a step in the right direction for sure. Whatever about our message to the world, I think it sends a very clear messages from within that the church is finally losing a its grip. The youth tipped the balance today I think, between those registering for the first time, and those who came home from abroad to vote.
We are evolving in the right direction, and momentum is growing.
To finally get into this century!
Good to see the Irish majority are changing things. How will this vote change attitudes/laws rearding things like abortion etc ?
No Celeste but one of my close pals when I was young was/is. I used to hang out with him in the seventies before so I saw how difficult it was for him. Later on, he and his partner used to to go out to dinner with my wife and I. I'm very pleased that Ireland has made this big leap and I enjoyed sending him a congratulatory text earlier. Looks like only Roscommon voted No out of the 43 constituencies and then only by a tiny margin.
Ditto Bruce. About bloody time.
Don't talk. I've waiting for the Country to catch up with my attitudes for fifty years.
That's right. I got a bit windy during the week and considered flying back to vote but it's all worked out well. My daughter and her boyfriend also voted in our constituency. Who would have thought it thirty years ago? There's a big party in Dublin Castle I've been watching on RTE, pity to have missed it.
Hi John. I'm absolutely delighted. Yes, we are the first country in the world to do this, and I believe we stand as a shining example on the world stage. My former constituency - Dublin South (yours too, I think?) - produced a YES vote of 70%.
1 Like