On May 22nd, the country will vote on the same-sex marriage referendum which will decide if gay marriage is voted into law.
If you haven’t heard anything about the referendum, you quite simply must have been living under a rock for the past few months. In recent weeks, the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ campaigns have been in full flight with both sides vociferous in their criticism of the other.
There has been some controversy, with the ‘No’ side complaining that their banners are being defaced and pulled down. Then there was the mural on the side of the building in Dublin, depicting two men hugging, which was brought to the nation’s attention when Dublin City Council threatened to remove it.
But the vast majority of the referendum debate and news coverage has been focused around Dublin. The capital is obviously of huge importance but we already know that the majority of Dubliners are voting ‘Yes’, what about the rest of the country and how they view the upcoming referendum?
In light of this Donal, Daniel and James took the City.ie on a tour of Wexford to explore people’s opinions on the referendum in the sunny south east and investigate whether there is a rural-urban divide.
The key finding was that the majority of people were firmly in favour of a yes vote. This would appear to be in line with the popular view in the capital. Whatever way the vote goes on May 22nd, it is important not to forget the rest of the country and be sucked into a city only view of the vote.
By Donal Lucey, James Cox and Daniel Pim.