Leo Varadkar says Government got 'two wallops' with referenda 'defeated comprehensively'

After the first boxes were opened in count centres at 9am, early tallies showed strong support for a no vote in both referenda.

Cork South-Central became the first constituency with results in the family referendum, with 61% voting no. You can follow all the votes as they occur at our referendum results page.

The Taoiseach said on Saturday that both the family and care amendments have been "defeated comprehensively on a respectable turnout".

He said the Government had received “two wallops” from the electorate, saying they now needed to reflect on the final results.

“The Government accepts the result and will respect it fully. As head of Government, on behalf of Government, we accept responsibility for the results,” Mr Varadkar said.

“It was our responsibility to convince the majority of people to vote yes and we clearly failed to do so.

“I think we struggled to convince people of the necessity or need for the referendum at all, let alone detail of the wording and that’s obviously something we’re going to have to reflect on.” 

However, he said the Government would continue to work to help carers across the State, despite the referenda being voted down.

Mr Varadkar said the responsibility to tackle any misinformation lay with the Government and the yes campaign.

“We did not succeed in our task to dispel the misinformation to allay any concerns that were there,” Mr Varadkar said.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin added: “The result of the referendums on family and care is clear. The majority were not persuaded by the arguments for changing the Constitution in this way,” Mr Martin said.

“It is a core strength of our Constitution that the people have the final say. We fully respect their decision.” Mr Martin said that there was no “single reason” as to why the referendums were defeated, adding that the Government needed to reflect on this matter.

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan also conceded that the Government has lost the twin referenda.

When it was put to the minister that the Government did not get the result that they wanted, he said: “No we didn’t. But you have to respect the voice of the people. We have to wait until the final count is done but if it is a ‘no-no’ vote, have to respect that.

“I don’t think you can respect the people’s vote by saying ‘what went wrong? The people didn’t vote the right way’.

“People are sovereign in this. They have to decide. It’s a complex issue, both were complex. I would have preferred a ‘yes-yes’. I don’t accept that our campaign did go wrong.”

He said that the Government would now need to reflect on the results.

“Both are complex issues and there were a myriad reasons to vote no. I think we’ll have to parse through what was the real reason why people were voting no and respect that and continue to make sure in Government and all political parties heed that advice from the people,” he added.

“We didn’t convince the public of the argument for a yes-yes vote.” 

Asked if it could be tried again, Mr Ryan said that it should be a consideration for the next Government.

“I think they’ll have to consider the campaign and consider what were the arguments and the merits of a no vote in both cases.” However, he disagreed with assertions that the vote was a reflection on the Government’s performance.

Meanwhile, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín told the Irish Examiner that he was delighted with the events of today, saying that the expected result “shows how out of touch the political bubble and Government is”.

Mr Tóibín said that it had been a “David vs Goliath” campaign from the very start, with the significant no vote showing that there is an “increasing intolerance of virtue signalling within Government”.

He said that the country “dodged a bullet” with a no vote, adding that there were now questions for senior Government ministers to answer over the leaked advice from the Attorney General.

The leaked advice said there was a lack of certainty as to how courts would interpret the word “strive” within the care referendum, but that it would likely have financial implications for the State beyond what there is at present.

Mr Tóibín accused the Integration Minister Roderic O'Goeman of “misleading” the public on this, saying that he believed it was a resignation matter for the Green Party minister.

"I believe that constitutional issues are too important to mislead the public,” he said, adding that the Government must now return to the “bread and butter” issues for families across the State, regardless of how they are made up.

Mr O'Gorman said he did not intend to resign, however, he said that he was "extremely disappointed" with the outcome of both referenda.