Paul Hosford: Irish public require more than constitutional vibes to pass a referendum

The Government found a public that didn't really want these referenda utterly bereft of a reason to pass them.

Kerry referendum count at the Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre. Picture: Domnick Walsh /Eye Focus LTD

There is a scene in the early 2000s political drama series The West Wing that sees a quixotic campaign manager, whose candidate has the notable handicap of being dead, face the press.

Faced with a losing polling position, he tells a journalist that "this campaign is a mechanism of persuasion".