Kenny’s refusal to debate a key factor in result

There’s no one reason why Fine Gael lost the abolition of the Seanad referendum in such dramatic style but the court of the media is a good place to start looking.

If the referendum had passed, the Taoiseach’s decision not to go debate the issues on television would have been hailed as an excellent tactic. But they lost. Therefore there’s every indication that his no-show backfired.

There was widespread consensus on the no side that Enda Kenny’s flippant “don’t want to embarrass you” refusal to debate his referendum cost the yes side those few percentage points that could have tipped the balance in favour of the 32nd amendment to the Constitution.