West Kerry gives huge ‘yes’ in favour of repeal

WEST Kerry voted very strongly in favour of removing the Eighth Amendment from the Constitution in Friday’s referendum, with Dingle producing the highest ‘yes’ vote of the larger towns in the county and Muiríoch giving the highest ‘yes’ vote of any town or village in Kerry.

Ironically, Dingle also produced a very high ‘yes’ vote in the referendum of 1983, which resulted in the Eight Amendment being inserted into the Constitution,.

According to tally figures taken at the referendum count centre in Killarney, just under 60 per cent of the electorate of 2,067 people in Dingle turned out to vote in the three polling booths in the convent. Of these 73.3 per cent said ‘yes’ to repeal of the Eighth Amendment, giving the government power to legislate on abortion. Just 26.7 per cent voted ‘no’.

The Dingle ‘yes’ vote was significantly higher than in any of the larger towns in Kerry. The second highest ‘yes’ vote was in Listowel at 64.9 per cent, followed by Tralee (59.5 per cent), and Killarney (58.7 per cent). The overall vote throughout Kerry was 58.7 per cent in favour of repeal.

The Dingle vote was reflected throughout West Kerry where polling booths in school classrooms yielded some of the highest ‘yes’ votes in Kerry. Scoil an Muirigh produced the highest ‘yes’ vote at 74.1 per cent, followed by Ceann Trá at 74 per cent, and Ballyferriter at 72.9 per cent.

The highest ‘no’ votes in Corca Dhuibhne were in Aughacasla (38.7 per cent), Cloghane

(37.5 per cent), and Cill Mhic a’ Dhomhnaigh (35.8 per cent).

In the 1983 referendum on the right to life of the unborn, the Dingle vote was 80 per cent in favour, ahead of the Kerry average ‘yes’ vote of 77 per cent.

Lisa Baze, Secretary of the Corca Dhuibhne For Yes group, said they had received a more positive response in West Kerry than elsewhere in the county during the referendum campaign, but she had not expected the ‘yes’ vote to be so high.

“We were getting two to one [in favour of repeal] on the doorsteps, but you don’t know how that’s going to work out when it comes to the vote. We weren’t even sure that we would win in West Kerry,” she said.

At mass in Dingle at the weekend Fr Jim Sheehy expressed deep disappointment at the referendum result.

In a homily that focused on the gift of faith he commented:

“For many our faith has been deeply challenged with the repeal of the Eighth Amendment

this weekend. The truth we have got to accept is that more and more we are becoming a secular society where our values and way of life is becoming more human than God centred; more rational than faith centred; and within our democratic system it is the will of the majority that rules and so we have to graciously accept and respect the integrity of people’s choice.

“What I would like to say, however, and this may not concern the Referendum, but there again it may very well, I do find it disturbing that within our growing secular society there is a strong vocal element that seems to have set out, in recent times, to totally discredit the Church and eradicate religion, regarding it as a negative force and an obstacle to human progress; using recent scandals and failures within the Church to fuel and justify their arguments. ‘Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.’ John 8: 7.”