Poll casts doubt on same-sex marriage Yes vote

A new poll has cast doubt over the lead of the Yes side in the same-sex marriage referendum.

The Red C poll in the Sunday Business Post has found that almost half of voters have "some reservations" over the issue.

Red C interviewed a random sample of 1,005 adults for this poll of which 46% stated they had "some reservations" about allowing same-sex couples to marry.

Though the poll finds a large majority of 77% support same-sex marriage, much of that support appears to be "soft", and could potentially be lost in the run-up to polling day.

It found that the percentage of those certain to vote Yes stood at 44%.

Some 59% of those asked said they agreed strongly that they would vote Yes to change the Constitution, with 18% agreeing tentatively.

The poll also found 38% of voters had reservations about adoption by same-sex couples.

However, Tiernan Brady from the gay rights group GLEN said he was happy with today's poll results, adding that despite the figures the referendum will be a wonderful event in Irish history.

"We don't take anything for granted," he said. "As long as we run a positive campaign that talks about truth and avoids fear and scaremongering...I think this is going to be a wonderful event."