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Same-sex Marriage Referendum

On Friday May 22nd Ireland voted in two referendums. It approved changing the Constitution to extend civil marriage rights to same-sex couples but rejected reducing the age of eligibility for the office of President.

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Constituency	Exit Poll	Constituencies Counted	% Turnout	% in Favour	% Against
Total	no	43	60.52	62.07	38.09

Same Sex Marriage

YesTurnoutNo

Constituency	Exit Poll	Constituencies Counted	% Turnout	% in Favour	% Against
Total	no	43	60.51	26.94	73.06

Presidential Age

YesTurnoutNo

Drag queen and gay rights activist Rory O’Neill, also known by his stage name Panti, cheers with other supporters for same-sex marriage at Dublin Castle on Saturday. Photograph: Paul Faith/AFP/ Getty Images

Ireland becomes first country to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote

Yes vote confirmed at 62% against 38% for No side with a turnout of more than 60%

Mary McAleese: Marriage equality did not end rampant homophobia

Mary McAleese: Marriage equality did not end rampant homophobia

Hostile attitudes and behaviour still make the lives of LGBT+ youths a misery

Catholic Church needs to empower the laity

Catholic Church needs to empower the laity

Scenes of joy in Dublin Castle on May 23rd felt like a kind of secular Pentecost

Two votes – one for equality, the other against it

Two votes – one for equality, the other against it

It is vital that our young people recognise that this is their moment and that the time for ‘waiting your turn’ is over

Marriage referendum a ‘defeat for humanity’ - does the Vatican just not get it?

Marriage referendum a ‘defeat for humanity’ - does the Vatican just not get it?

Cardinal’s comments better applied to holocaust than Irish referendum

LGBT youth action has helped pull down ‘architecture of homophobia’

LGBT youth action has helped pull down ‘architecture of homophobia’

Fifty per cent of LGBT young people still consider suicide owing to stigma and homophobic bullying and one in five LGBT pupils avoid school

How the Yes vote can help the campaign for abortion rights

How the Yes vote can help the campaign for abortion rights

Comment: If we love equality, Eighth Amendment is first obstacle that needs to go

Full list of articles on same-sex marriage vote

Q&A What you need to know about the same-sex marriage referendum

Q&A The referendum on age of eligibility for office of President

Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery -

Gay lives should no longer be a matter for ‘public debate’

Kathy Sheridan

Kathy Sheridan -

Kathy Sheridan: Some Yes campaigners faced subtle, shocking bigotry

Noel Whelan

Noel Whelan -

Noel Whelan: Exhausting, draining and life changing: the Yes campaign

Kathy Sheridan

Kathy Sheridan -

Kathy Sheridan: Republic wakes to world of calm acceptance

Presidential age referendum

Taoiseach Enda Kenny appeared far more enthused by the same sex marriage referendum than the vote in the age of presidential eligibility. Photograph: Reuters

Presidential age vote destined to be forgotten referendum

Analysis: Voters take their cue from unenthusiastic, distracted politicians

Same-sex marriage referendum

Legal bids to challenge same-sex marriage result due

Two applications for leave to bring petitions against referendum result due in High Court

Catholic Church ‘bereavement’ after same-sex marriage vote

Archbishop Eamon Martin says ‘two parallel discussions’ going on

Church has ‘much to reflect on’ after referendum - Archbishop

Archbishop Eamon Martin welcomes the raised awareness of issues faced by gay people

Irish abroad: Have your say on the referendum results

Are you proud of Ireland today? Will the result affect you personally? Let us know

Vatican stands by Cardinal’s remarks on referendum

Secretary of State called result of the Irish referendum a ‘disaster for humanity’

‘Anomalies’ must be removed when marriage law drawn up, says Norris

Schools with different ethos entitled to transmit values dear to them, says Rónán Mullen

Vatican calls Irish referendum a ‘defeat for humanity’

Secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin reaction to vote

Bill allowing gay marriage to be enacted by end of July

Fitzgerald ‘very conscious that many couples will want to get married as soon as possible’

Galway heaves with happiness at referendum result

Ecstatic cheers in Blue Note bar for former Fianna Fáil justice minister Máire Geoghegan-Quinn

Same-sex marriage vote an ‘unmitigated disaster’ for Church

People ‘no longer willing to listen to speeches and sermons on morality from the church’

Same-sex marriage may be legal by September

Tánaiste says legislation could be passed before summer

Australian PM Tony Abbott says no to same-sex marriage referendum

Marriage Equality Australia believes result in Ireland gives hope to movement

‘I waited with trepidation to see how my country would classify my wife and I’

Ruth O’Farrell on the shame she felt as a gay person growing up in Ireland and her joy at watching the Yes result from New York

Legislation on school and hospital staff to be amended

Discriminating against LGBT employees in health and education will be illegal by summer

Podcast: Irish Times journalists discuss resounding Yes

Fiach Kelly, Michael O’Regan and Sarah Bardon look at what credit is due to the political establishment

Stephen Collins: Big parties vie for credit for Yes vote

Former tánaiste Eamon Gilmore first to put issue on agenda

Kenny hails referendum vote as ‘pioneering’

Taoiseach Enda Kenny hails outcome as ‘pioneering leadership’ from Ireland

Marriage vote turnout in top five of all referendums

Divorce, abortion, joining the EU, changing the electoral system had more voters

Marian Keyes apologises for ‘bigots’ comment about Roscommon/South Leitrim

‘There is no call for that type of stuff,’ says local TD Michael Fitzmaurice

Referendum has changed republic forever, says Yes Equality

Irish people have woken up in a kinder, more accepting Ireland

Celebrities react to Ireland legalising gay marriage

Singer Miley Cyrus tweets her support for the result as actor Russell Crowe calls Ireland ‘amazing’

Ban Ki-moon hails ‘historic’ marriage referendum result

UN secretary-general awarded Tipperary International Peace Award

Pat Carey takes on Irish Red Cross chairman role

Former Fianna Fáil minister says he will be mainly chairing meetings

Eamon Gilmore calls for action on surrogacy

Former tánaiste describes strong Yes vote as ‘a national act of inclusion’

Campaign to promote Ireland as same-sex wedding destination

Tourism Ireland aim to capture part of ‘new and emerging’ LGBT wedding tourism market

More older gay and lesbian people will come out, say campaigners

Ursula Halligan and Pat Carey have inspired people to reveal their sexuality, says support network

‘It’s not easy being a Yes Roscommon voter’

Patsy McGarry reflects on why his native county voted No to same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage: Northern Ireland ‘last bastion of discrimination’ says Amnesty

Martin McGuinness says result shows Ireland is increasingly embracing equality

Angela Merkel urged to follow Ireland’s lead on same-sex marriage

Irish vote tops German news with politicians saying ‘what the Catholic Irish can do, we can do, too’

Timeline: Gay rights in Ireland from 1861

Looking at gay rights in Ireland from 1861 to May 22nd, 2015

Ireland becomes first country to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote

Yes vote confirmed at 62% against 38% for No side with a turnout of more than 60%

US politicians pay tribute to Ireland’s vote on same-sex marriage

New York Times says Ireland has given a ‘powerful boost to the quest for gay equality’

Gay parish priest thanks congregation for accepting him

Fr Martin Dolan says church needs ‘new way of being’ after same-sex marriage accepted

Same-sex vote shows Ireland’s ‘pioneering leadership’ - Kenny

Signal sent on gay rights will be ‘heard loudly across the living world’, says Taoiseach

Cork and Kerry deliver strong Yes to same-sex marriage

Sean Sherlock says referendum result ‘sends a signal to the world’

Same-sex vote: ‘No’ crosses line in just one of 43 constituencies

Roscommon South-Leitrim the only constituency to vote No in marriage referendum

Roscommon-South Leitrim bucks national trend with 51% against

Enda Kenny gratified following close-fought campaign in which Yes success crests 52%

Diarmuid Martin: Catholic Church needs reality check

Church needs to ask if it has drifted from the young in wake of marriage vote, says archbishop

Midwest: Limerick, Tipperary, Clare approve same-sex marriage

Strongest Yes vote returned in urban areas, residents of Quin voted 83% for the change

Dublin: Large Yes vote recorded in the capital

‘Something very, very big happened ...There was a big mobilisation of the electorate’

East: Meath, Louth and Kildare strongly support same-sex marriage

Vote ‘was about more than just marriage - it was about it being ok to be gay’

All areas vote Yes to same-sex marriage in southeast

Convincing Yes votes recorded in Wexford, Waterford, Wicklow, Carlow-Kilkenny

President welcomes high voter turnout in referendums

Michael D Higgins pays tribute to ‘grace’ of campaigns on both sides and involvement of young people

World’s media looks to Ireland as we fly the flag of gay rights

A day ’unthinkable just a few years ago in Roman Catholic stronghold’ - New York Times

Campaigning Senator Katherine Zappone proposes to partner

One-time nun Ann Louise Gilligan says Yes vote victory has ‘saved us from prejudice’

Joan Burton: Ireland has become a ‘rainbow nation’

‘Céad mile fáilte to people who are gay and lesbian to be in Ireland’

Coveney: Yes vote a statement that ‘it’s okay to be gay’ in Ireland

Civil society groups and individual testimonies deserve much of the credit for Yes win

Micheál Martin: Yes reflects decency at heart of Irish society

Personal stories of gay people hugely important in campaign says Fianna Fáil leader

Donegal South West votes Yes with just 33 votes between sides

In Donegal North East the Yes side claimed more than 52 per cent of the ballots

‘Yes I do!’ Limerick lady wastes no time with marriage proposal

‘Katie, we make a great team. I don’t want to waste another minute of my life without you as my wife’

Carlow-Kilkenny Full coverage of the Carlow-Kilkenny byelection 2015

Regional round-up

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Videos

Gallery

Overwhelmed at the sheer monumental significance of the Yes result in the Same-sex Marriage Referendum, at Dublin Castle, Ireland, May 23rd, 2015. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

In separate articles in IrishTimes/ Opinion, Independent TDs Maureen O’Sullivan and Mattie McGrath argue the case for and against same-sex marriage. Photograph: Getty Images

Letters Readers' takes on the 2015 same-sex marriage referendum

Referendum liveblog Updates as they happened with Sorcha Pollak and Aine McMahon

Head-to-Head

Maureen O’Sullivan YES: The poll is about a human right

Mattie McGrath NO: Parenting would become a gender-neutral activity

Finn Murray YES: A son with two mothers argues in favour

Heather Barwick NO: A daughter of a lesbian argues against

Pádraig Rice YES: Why I'm in favour of the same-sex marriage referendum

Bruce Arnold NO: Why I'm voting against the same-sex marriage referendum

Theresa Reidy YES: Why we should lower the age of Presidential eligibility

Colum Kenny NO: We should vote against lowering the age of Presidential eligibility

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