...AND THE TOP EIGHT KEY MOMENTS
1 MICHEÁL MARTIN’S JOURNEY
Micheál Martin’s decision to back a Yes vote was indicative of things to come. Leinster House may have obsessed over the inability of Martin to bring his party with him. But Martin, more importantly, captured, and was empathetic towards, the changing mood of the country. He was a key first straw in the wind, although it might not help his party shake off the dinosaur image.
2 GRAPHIC POSTERS
The siting of a series of graphic posters on abortion outside the nation’s maternity hospitals put the pro-life campaign on the back foot for the critical first week – ground it could have done without losing.
3 COVENEY’S WOBBLES
There was no shortage of wobbles on the pro-choice side – and Simon Coveney, pictured, provided most of them. Coveney’s initial pro-Repeal/anti 12-week stance was a great start for the pro-life side, who argued that you couldn’t trust politicians. Any benefit from his eventual switch on this was ruined by the proposed two-thirds majority clause that even (an admittedly nerdy) child would know to be unconstitutional. This gave hope to the pro-life side that the Government’s ineptitude could be their salvation.
4 FF’S GANG OF THIRTY-ONE
It was the most dramatic political moment of the campaign as 31 rebel Fianna Fáil TDs and senators staged a hit-and-run-style photograph, and declared they were for No. Others sent their apologies. The decision appeared to initially paralyse Micheál Martin. At this remove, it may now have more important ramifications within Fianna Fáil than it has had on the referendum.
5 MARIA STEEN ON CLAIRE BYRNE
The Claire Byrne debate was another moment where it looked as though the pro-life side could pull off an unlikely victory. Peter Boylan and the pro-choice side swaggered in like a complacent defending champion who believes they only had to turn up to win. Instead the previously unknown Maria Steen, pictured, took him out with a sophisticated, passionate performance. Boylan was hardly heard from again. Steen was later involved in a controversy, where she was not allowed on RTÉ as a last-minute replacement for Cora Sherlock.
6 CERVICAL CANCER CRISIS
The cervical cancer scandal sucked the air out of a campaign that prolife had to win. Instead it was faced with a second ‘women as second-class citizens’ narrative, while the outwardly capable handling of the debacle by Simon Harris did the pro-choice side no harm either. An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar may have floundered but new national hero Vicky Phelan, pictured, picked up the slack by declaring her support for Yes.
7 GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK BAN ADS
It was expected the internet would play a key role in the campaign but this happened in a totally unexpected way. First Facebook banned all foreign-based advertising and then Google banned the lot. The disingenuous howls of outrage from pro-life made it easy to spot who felt most disadvantaged by this decision.
8 RÓNÁN’S FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN
Because of the phenomenon of low expectations, Rónán Mullen, pictured, can perform well for 95% of a debate but then lose it with one sentence. In a debate on the Pat Kenny Show, ‘the archbishop of the Seanad’ did it again with an astonishingly empathy-free performance in a debate that had evolved into a contest of empathy. His condescenion to Saoirse Long, far right, telling a personal story was shocking and was replayed repeatedly on social media in the closing stages.