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Four Government TDs voted No in Family and Care referendums

The Government suffered resounding defeats in the referendums
The Government suffered resounding defeats in the referendums

Four Government TDs have admitted to casting No votes in last Friday's referendums on Family and Care.

It comes after Fianna Fáil Senator Lisa Chambers confirmed yesterday that she had also voted No despite canvassing for a Yes vote in Dublin city centre last month.

The Care referendum was defeated with a 73.9% No vote, while the Family amendment lost with a 67.7% No vote.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that while he did not want to comment on the stance taken by Ms Chambers, he has always voted the way he campaigned. He added that he is confident a majority of the Fine Gael parliamentary party voted Yes in the referendums.

Former Fianna Fáil deputy leader Éamon Ó Cuív has today confirmed that he voted No in both referendums.

The Galway-West TD described the wording of the proposed changes to the Constitution as "bizarre" and lacking in clarity.

Mr Ó Cuív did not campaign for a Yes vote in the referendums and did not stand in a referendum promotion photograph taken in Galway a few weeks ago.

He said the results indicated that Fianna Fáil has become disconnected with its grassroots.

Earlier, his party colleague, Deputy Niamh Smyth, told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that she had canvassed for a Yes vote in the Care and Family referendums but had voted No on the Care amendment.

"I voted. Yes, on one and No on the other," she said.

Ms Smyth added that the debate on the care issue, including contributions from Senator Tom Clonan, prompted her to vote No.

"I listened to the debate, and I felt that people who are much more involved in disability, NGOs and parents who have children with disability and those who are carers, felt that the wording wasn't strong enough and didn't represent what they wanted to see in our constitution and for that reason I voted No," she said.

Fianna Fáil TD Niamh Smyth

Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow-Kilkenny John McGuinness told the same programme that he voted No in both referendums and that his party was out of touch with voters and had "lost its way".

"It is quite clear that we need an open discussion and debate about the future of the party, about the policies that we are pursuing," said Mr McGuinness.

He added he is concerned about the impact of the referendum result on the upcoming local and European elections and the next general election.

"I think that the main breakdown has been trust and truthfulness, and the Government need to examine just how exactly they arrived at this position, because they're certainly completely out of kilter with the electorate," said Mr McGuinness.

Fianna Fáil TD for Longford-Westmeath Robert Troy said the Government ran a very bad referendum campaign.

He told the Westmeath Examiner that it was ill thought-out and ill-timed.

Asked by RTÉ News how he voted, Mr Troy said: "It's a private ballot."

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One yesterday, Fianna Fáil TD Willie O'Dea admitted that he did not campaign with the Government for a Yes-Yes vote in the recent referendums, and that when he went to cast his ballot on Friday, he voted No to both.


Analysis: Government with questions to answer in referendum fallout


Independent Senator Gerard Craughwell said he has been asked to table a no confidence motion in Ms Chambers, the Government leader in the Seanad, when the upper house returns on 20 March.

Mr Craughwell said this was an internal Fianna Fáil matter and he would not do "someone's dirty work for them".

Other Government deputies have also admitted to not canvassing door-to-door for a Yes vote, including Limerick Green Party TD Brian Leddin.

He said he did social media and "other media stuff" but did not get to the point where he was knocking on doors looking for a Yes vote.

Mr Leddin said his efforts were "not good enough" and he "could have done more".

"I didn't get out canvassing at all. I would hold my hands up," he said.

He added that he probably took for granted there would be a Yes vote and despite doing media and social media campaigning that he "didn't get to the point where I was knocking on doors and asking people to vote Yes for both questions".

Mr Leddin's comments follow a letter by Green Party leader Eamon Ryan and Minister Roderic O'Gorman to party members saying: "Our party ran the most active campaign of any party in Ireland."

Fianna Fáil TD James Lawless said there was no "great surprise" about the defeat of the proposed changes in the referendums and that the Government parties were "not convinced" the referendum was needed.

Mr Lawless said he "did not campaign" for the referendum and would not say what way he voted.

"I did not campaign for it because I wasn't convinced there was a need for it," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.

"I didn't detect at any stage prior to the votes being announced any great public desire for these referenda.

"I think that this flowed from the Green element of the three party government. In future if any such changes are being proposed I think it would be important for all three parties to be consulted, engaged on them, and have the case made internally," said Mr Lawless.

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Asked if he was blaming the Green Party, Mr Lawless responded: "The Greens were the ones who wanted it. There was some suggestion in the media that the parties didn't campaign hard enough for it… that's because the parties were not convinced it was necessary in the first place.

"Nobody in Government ever asked my opinion or any other TDs or senators, that I'm aware of, it was announced through Cabinet one day that this was going to happen," Mr Lawless said.

"I think the whole incident is a wake up call and I hope Government gets back to basics," said Mr Lawless adding "bread and butter issues" of health, housing and law and order needed to be tackled.

Fine Gael Galway East TD Ciarán Cannon said he voted Yes in both referendums but admitted he did not go door-to-door looking for a Yes vote.

He said "at this point in politics in Ireland and internationally" campaigns are being won and lost in the media and social media.

Fine Gael TD Ciarán Cannon

Mr Cannon said the loss in the referendums and the upcoming elections "are more or less mutually exclusive".

"I don't think it's possible or indeed wise to associate a very substantial loss in a referendum with perhaps similar losses in upcoming elections.

He described the mood in Fine Gael as "one of disappointment" and "one of wondering where exactly this went wrong".

Referendum results to be discussed at party meetings

Parliamentary party meetings are not happening this week because party leaders and ministers are away for St Patrick's Day. The earliest these meetings can happen is Wednesday of next week.

Fianna Fáil TD for Tipperary Jackie Cahill said concerns and anger from backbenchers will be raised at the next parliamentary party meeting.

"This is a wake up call for us. I think it's a clear signal that people out there feel they are not being listened to," he said.

"We need to sit down as a party and discuss our strategy for the next election. And obviously those policies that we're pursuing in government - the electorate don't agree with them

"I think this was is a serious wake up call for us. We need to start listening to the ordinary people on the ground… we’re doing things in Government that they don't agree with," said Mr Cahill.

He added that backbenchers will still be angry and concerned when its parliamentary party meeting happens.

Additional reporting Mícheál Lehane