City returns a ‘yes’ vote in Treaty but many said ‘no’

Date Published: 04-Jun-2012

By Declan Tierney

While Galway city returned a resounding yes to the Fiscal Treaty referendum last week, there were a number of pockets when voters emphatically rejected it.

There were some areas of the city where the ‘yes’ vote was as high as 75% but much of the focus of attention will be on the areas where there was a majority ‘no’ vote.

While the Salthill and Knocknacarra areas came out in strong support of the Treaty – even if one box at St. Enda’s returned a 53% ‘no’ vote – there were areas in the West side of the city and in the East who were definitely not convinced.

And two of the three boxes tallied by the political parties in the Claddagh area were opposed to the referendum with one having a 63% ‘no’ vote.

Fine Gael TD Brian Walsh will be reasonably happy that his heartland in the East side of the city delivered a ‘yes’ vote in the main – however, there was one of the boxes in Ballybane which had a 58% ‘no’ vote.

In Renmore the voters came out in strength to cast a ‘yes’ vote with one of the boxes tallied revealing 71% in favour of the referendum. In fact the ‘yes’ vote in Renmore averaged out at just short of 66%.

Of the boxes tallied in Mervue it was much less convincing with just 54% in favour and 48% opposing the treaty while some of the boxes in Tirellan returned a ‘no’ vote.

However, Labour TD Derek Nolan will not be happy that a lot of his party’s supporters in the West side of the city rejected the Treaty. The boxes tallied revealed that almost 56% gave a resounding ‘no’ vote.

Those who voted in the Seamus Quirke Road centre were also opposed to the referendum with one box tallied showing that 61% were against it.

It was interesting to note that while the referendum was resoundingly carried by those who voted in Gaelscoil Mhic Amhlaigh in Knocknacarra, there was one box in which 186 voters said ‘no’ compared to 153 in favour.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.