Yes side fearing defeat after low turnout

Voters stayed at home in large numbers despite Ireland’s future role in Europe being at stake in the fiscal treaty referendum.

Turnout struggled to break through the 50% barrier in many areas as participation appeared to be well down on the 59% recorded in the first Lisbon Treaty poll in 2008.

Both sides predicted the lack of voter engagement would make the result closer than expected.

A leading Government yes campaigner said: “If turnout hits 55% and above, I think we’re safe, but if it’s below 50%, I’d be seriously worried.”

No campaigners took heart from the figures, with a Libertas adviser saying: “We are daring to dream. On this turnout the result is going to be much closer than the picture the polls painted. Some areas of south Dublin that were expected to be heavy yes areas are just scraping 50% turnout, while parts of the country like Sligo, which have strong anti-Government local issues in play, are seeing a good turnout.”

A scrappy, confusing, and bad tempered campaign that failed to catch the public imagination was blamed for the no-show by many voters, as well as poor weather in many areas which saw turnout in some areas dwindle to the 30s.

Another leading yes campaigner expressed concern, saying: “I think it’s going to be around 50% nationally, and that’s not good news for us, but I still think we have it, but not by the margin we hoped for.”

Though more than 3.1m people were eligible to vote, turnout was slow throughout the day, but saw a modest pickup in the evening.

By teatime, voting across the country saw turnout stand at about 30%, with urban areas registering greater interest than rural ones.

Europe’s power-brokers are keeping a keen eye on the result as the Republic is the only EU state to hold a popular vote on the intergovernmental treaty, which imposes tougher budgetary rules on member countries.

However, ratification can still proceed with or without Ireland as long as 12 eurozone countries agree to it.

The treaty has so far only been ratified by three of the 25 countries that agreed to it in December: Greece, Portugal, and Slovenia.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny remained upbeat as he cast his vote in Mayo, insisting ratification was essential for the country’s future stability.

Meanwhile, the Defence Forces confirmed that a suspicious device found at the constituency office of Sinn Féin TD Mary Lou McDonald was a hoax.

The alarm was raised at the building on Dublin’s North Strand by a staff member at the office of the Dublin Central TD.

The suspect device was removed by bomb disposal experts. Subsequent testing has confirmed it did not contain any explosive.