Fine Gael exit poll boost for Yes campaign

COUNTING in the Lisbon Treaty referendum gets under way this morning with the official result expected to be declared in the late afternoon.

Reliable indications of the result will come much earlier, however, as the ballot boxes are opened around the country and officials from all the political parties tally the votes.

Fine Gael conducted an exit poll which suggested the treaty would be passed by a comfortable margin. With the exit poll almost completed last night, the party was estimating the Yes side would end up with roughly 60% of the vote. The party said it had polled 1,000 people in 33 locations. Fine Gael’s director of elections Billy Timmins, said: “These are very encouraging numbers for the Yes campaign.”