This article is from page 8 of the 2012-06-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
THE voter turn-out for the Stability Referendum last week was the lowest in the county in almost a decade.
Campaigners from all sides said they were disappointed with the 49.8 per cent turn-out in Clare, which was just short of the national average. However, the large number of people staying at home at the time of a referendum is not unusual in Clare’s recent history.
Just 30.83 per cent of the electorate in Clare turned out in June 2001 to vote on the first Nice referendum, the abolition of the death penalty and the criminal courts referendum.
This was a huge drop from the previous referendum of June 1999 when 60.05 per cent of the Clare electorate turned out to vote for ‘Recognition for Local Government’.
In March 2002, just 39.29 per cent of the Clare electorate turned out to vote on the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy, with 47.05 per cent voting on Nice 2 that October.
The largest turn out for a referen dum in recent years in Clare was in June 2004, when 64.6 per cent voted on the Citizenship.
From then until last Thursday, the turn-out remained over 50 per cent in the Banner county, with 52.48 per cent voting on Lisbon 1 in June 2008, 56.9 per cent voting on the second Lisbon referendum in October 2009, while 56.12 per cent voted on the House of the Oireachtais Inquiries and 57.95 per cent on Judges Remu- neration during the Presidential election in October 2011.
Last week’s drop below 50 per cent was a disappointment to the majority of people involved in the campaign. Some blamed referendum fatigue, others a lack of knowledge on the subject.
“An element of referendum fatigue was built into the turn-out. I was disappointed that more people didn’t choose to vote but it is the norm for referendums that you don’t have a large turn-out,” said Fine Gael TD Joe Carey.
Fine Gael Senator Tony Mulcahy said he believed the low turn-out was due to frustration and annoyance among people. There was also an element of “people not understanding it” he maintained.