‘We made this country better for everyone’

Tears of joy and looks of despair were in evidence as Cork’s overwhelming decision to repeal the Eighth Amendment was made official.

While the outcome was inevitable the minute the first boxes opened began to confirm Friday night’s exit poll results, hundreds of campaigners filled Cork City Hall to see the evidence of how people voted in the two mainly-city constituencies.

There were 69% and 64% Yes votes in Cork South Central and North Central, based on valid polls of 58,209 and 52,547 voters respectively. The size of the majority told some pro-repeal campaigners that many people who declared themselves undecided at the doorsteps were silent yes voters, rather than the other way around, as some had feared.