The Mayo News

‘No’ camp have their day in Mayo

Higgins blames Fianna Fáil, while Murray calls for better deal for Ireland

Anton McNulty

FROM early on Friday morning, when all the boxes from the different polling stations were opened at the count centre in the Ruby Room in the TF Royal Hotel and Theatre in Castlebar, it became evidently clear that Mayo had comprehensively rejected the Lisbon Treaty.
A small number of activists from opposing sides of the campaign gathered at the count centre as the votes were being counted and, from early on, it was the No campaigners who had the smiles on their faces. When the returning officer, Fintan Murphy, formally announced the result at half past one, it was the strength of the No win which shocked many of the Yes camp. Of the 48,625 valid votes cast on Thursday, 30,001 (61.7 per cent) voted to reject the Treaty compared to only 18,624 (38.3 per cent) who voted in favour of it.
After the vote was announced, the majority of the activists on both sides dispersed, with only a small number waiting on to mull over what had happened. Among those who remained from the Yes side were Fianna Fáil TD, Dara Calleary and Fine Gael MEP, Jim Higgins but on the No side, it was the Sinn Féin supporters who walked about the TF like the cats who got the cream.
A year after a disastrous general election, they had every right to be upbeat because, after a high-profile No campaign, they were back in the media and national limelight in a positive way. In Mayo they campaigned on how EU directives affected rural Ireland, and Charlestown-based councillor, Gerry Murray, feels it is time the Government now got a better deal for Ireland.
“It is about striking the right balance between national and EU sovereignty. In my campaign, I illustrated how I was dealing on a daily basis with the practical consequences of previous EU directives and treaties. There is a definite move towards a policy of deregulation of the public services. Here in the west of Ireland we have low economies of scale and low population density and the private companies will not give us the services and, in terms of broadband and Eircom, that is the proof in the pudding,” he said.
While Cllr Murray was adamant the No vote was not a protest vote, Mayo MEP Jim Higgins said an element of it was a protest vote against the Government, and he blamed Fianna Fáil for not getting their campaign up and running at an earlier stage.
“I am disappointed but not surprised and the situation was not helped by the Government leaving their campaign launch until very late. Bertie Ahern was on a lap of honour in the final days of his leadership and as a result the Fianna Fáil campaign only got going three weeks ago. There was a protest vote against the Government and there are a lot of domestic issues that fell right into the lap of the No camp,” he said.
Dara Calleary said that Fianna Fáil ran the best campaign possible but felt the Yes campaign was difficult from the start because they were always on the defensive against negative issues that had nothing to do with the Treaty. However, he said the Government should not be going to Europe with their heads down because of the vote.
“We voted, had a referendum and a six-month debate on it. We shouldn’t be going with our heads held down and I would be strong on that. It will certainly harm our standing but we had a proper democratic process, voted the way we did and we shouldn’t apologise for it,” he said.

THE COUNT
THE counting of the Mayo referendum votes started in Castlebar at nine o’clock in the morning and was completed an hour ahead of schedule, at half past one. Of the total number of 95,493 voters registered on the Mayo register, there was a 51 per cent turn-out with 48,822 people casting their vote on Thursday. When the boxes were opened only 197 votes were spoiled and 48,625 votes were valid, with 30,001 voting No and 18,624 voting yes.
Returning officer, Fintan Murphy, explained that everything went to schedule and a helpline was set up on Thursday to help people in Mayo who may have had difficulties locating their name on the register. He added that the turn-out of 51 per cent was relatively high for a referendum considering that it was not accompanied by a local or general election. The formal announcement of the Mayo result took place at 1.30pm.

HOW MAYO VOTED

Electorate 95,250
Total Poll 48,822 (51.3%)
Yes 18,624 (38.3%)
No 30,001 (61.7%)
Spoiled votes 197

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