HughMcB wrote:POPULAR VOTE.

Scot Dutchy wrote:

HughMcB wrote:POPULAR VOTE.

We do not do require popular vote. We dont have referenda.

In 1993, Ireland was among the last countries in the Western World to decriminalize homosexuality. Some 22 years later, it could become the first to legalize same-sex marriages by popular vote.

Scot Dutchy wrote:The Netherlands was Hugh.

monkeyboy wrote:Still doesn't make it the same thing.

A popular vote, a referendum of the people on a single issue is a much more powerful statement of a democratic wish than a government/parliament/congress etc voting an act through.

Shrunk wrote:

monkeyboy wrote:Still doesn't make it the same thing.

A popular vote, a referendum of the people on a single issue is a much more powerful statement of a democratic wish than a government/parliament/congress etc voting an act through.

Perhaps. Still, I find it monumentally impressive that every single political party, and almost every single member of the irish Parliament (or whatever it's called) supports SSM. Last time we have a vote in the Canadian Parliament, it passed by only 175-123 (though, strictly speaking, that was only on whether to reopen the question for debate.)

HughMcB wrote:I think the culture shift in Ireland over the last few decades has been immense. There are lots of contributing factors, one of the main ones is the RCC scandals.

Irish voters have been subjected to a campaign of “fear and intimidation” in the lead-up to the marriage equality referendum, a group of European politicians have claimed.

In an open letter to the President of the European Parliament on May 19, several MEPs have asked its President, Martin Schulz, to intervene against the referendum.

“As you might be aware of, the Irish citizens will vote this Friday 22 May in a referendum aimed at amending the Irish Constitution… unfortunately, a climate of fear and intimidation has pervaded throughout the campaign, creating electoral conditions that are far from free and fair,” it writes.

With the exception of the non-aligned Edouard Ferrand from France’s Front National, the signatories of the letter are all members of the European Conservatives and Reformist Group.

Included are Germany’s Beatrix von Storch and Arne Gericke, Branislav Skripek from Slovakia, and Poland’s Marek Jurek and Kazimier Ujazdowski.

“What has taken place in Ireland over the past few months is unacceptable for an EU member state,” they write....

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/me ... 42597.html

HughMcB wrote:Just in my generation (only 30 now) the church went from packed for mass three times on a Sunday in most parishes to scrambling to partially fill one mass. I'd say that's a pretty rapid shift.

Shrunk wrote:

Irish voters have been subjected to a campaign of “fear and intimidation” in the lead-up to the marriage equality referendum, a group of European politicians have claimed.

In an open letter to the President of the European Parliament on May 19, several MEPs have asked its President, Martin Schulz, to intervene against the referendum.

“As you might be aware of, the Irish citizens will vote this Friday 22 May in a referendum aimed at amending the Irish Constitution… unfortunately, a climate of fear and intimidation has pervaded throughout the campaign, creating electoral conditions that are far from free and fair,” it writes.

With the exception of the non-aligned Edouard Ferrand from France’s Front National, the signatories of the letter are all members of the European Conservatives and Reformist Group.

Included are Germany’s Beatrix von Storch and Arne Gericke, Branislav Skripek from Slovakia, and Poland’s Marek Jurek and Kazimier Ujazdowski.

“What has taken place in Ireland over the past few months is unacceptable for an EU member state,” they write....

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/me ... 42597.html

mrjonno wrote:Catholic church like all religion relies on poverty and the next world being better than this miserable one, Ireland is a rich 1st world country these days so its a bit screwed

HughMcB wrote:
Given that we're constitutionally a Catholic nation...

monkeyboy wrote:Still doesn't make it the same thing.

A popular vote, a referendum of the people on a single issue is a much more powerful statement of a democratic wish than a government/parliament/congress etc voting an act through.

Briton wrote:

HughMcB wrote:
Given that we're constitutionally a Catholic nation...

Bring on the next referendum.

The figures so far show a strong turnout in Dublin; more than 30% had cast their votes in some areas this afternoon.

Across the country too, turnout is well ahead of previous referendums.

In Sligo and Leitrim, many polling stations were reporting figures of 30% by mid-afternoon.

The same was true of Waterford City where turnout was 7% higher this evening compared to the local elections.

Voter turnout in Co Cork is described as being at general election levels.

In parts of Carlow-Kilkenny, where voters also have a by-election, more than 35% of the electorate had already voted by late afternoon.

All this before the tea-time and last-minute rush has led to some polling staff to predict a 60% plus final turnout figure.