‘This vote is for my girls’
WHEN asked what exactly the repeal of the Eighth Amendment meant to him, Enda Lynch of Lissarda simply pointed to his two young daughters, Claudia and Ainsley, and said this was their day.
With a beaming smile, sixyear-old Claudia Lynch said: “I will now have a say for me when I’m older. I’m really happy about that.”
Enda lives at Dooniskey, Lissarda, near Macroom with his wife, Aideen Kelleher. Cork North West has always been viewed as being a conservative region, but by late on Saturday evening that tag was fading as a whopping 60% of the electorate voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment.
Enda, who formed part of Macroom4Yes, said the group knocked on doors in the most remote of regions throughout Cork North West on a long campaign.
“I knocked on all those doors so that these two girls, my daughters, will now have a choice. I did not get involved in campaigns over the years but this one was an absolute must.
“I found the campaign very hard and divisive, even within my own family, but you simply have to respect people’s views,” he said.
Asked how he found the campaign trail, he said: “I felt there were people on the Yes side who went too far but equally so there were people on the No side who did the same.”
He said that, as he watched the early tally figures at Colaiste Choilm in Ballincollig, he could see the energy of the votes coming through for the Yes side.
However, he said that the country must not lose sight of this energy now as there are also many other societal challenges, such as housing.
“I think if people kept this energy going and not let this energy go then huge problems like housing could be greatly helped,” he said.