Labour, FG did not campaign for Yes vote — Minister

TOURISM Minister John O’Donoghue lashed out at the Fine Gael and Labour parties in Kerry South, claiming they had not campaigned actively for a Yes vote in the constituency.

“The Fianna Fail organisation were the only people canvassing actively in this constituency for a Yes vote,’’ he said at the count centre in Killarney. “At best, Fine Gael and Labour voters received little or no leadership here which is best illustrated by the fact that no other deputies bothered to turn up at the count.’’

Mr O’Donoghue, said he was very pleased with the 60.5% Yes vote in Kerry South. There was a degree of ambivalance among other parties, but Fianna Fail worked hard and managed to get out the vote that mattered, he said. Nationwide, he felt the majority of people voted Yes because they had been reassured by the Government on issues such as neutrality and immigration.

In Kerry North, which returned a 56% Yes vote, Sinn Fein TD Martin Ferris said his party had run the same campaign as they did in the last referendum, but there was a much stronger campaign this time by the pro-Nice side: “A lot of people were made to think that if they voted No it would prevent enlargement of the EU, but the people have now made a decision and we must respect that.’’

There was a reversal of the 2001 result in both Kerry constituencies.