Archive · Official results
Ireland’s 2015 marriage referendum results across 43 constituencies
Ireland approved the marriage amendment on 22 May 2015 with 62.07% of valid votes. Roscommon-South Leitrim was the only constituency to vote No, and Donegal South-West voted Yes by 33 ballots. Compare the count and turnout in every constituency.
Sources checked
Yes share
Shared scale · 0% to 74.91%
Turnout
Shared scale · 0% to 74.91%
Select one of eight constituencies to compare the two percentages. The full table contains all 43.
How the national result was counted
The returning officer recorded 1,201,607 Yes votes and 734,300 No votes, a margin of 467,307 among 1,935,907 valid ballots. The 13,818 invalid ballots brought the total poll to 1,949,725 out of 3,221,681 registered electors. The 43 constituency records sum to each of those national counts. Source 1 Source 2
A 33-vote margin in Donegal South-West
Donegal South-West counted 15,907 Yes and 15,874 No votes, giving Yes 50.05% of valid votes. Its 33-vote difference was the smallest absolute margin in the constituency file. Roscommon-South Leitrim recorded 18,644 No and 17,615 Yes votes, a No margin of 1,029. Yes led in the other 42 constituencies. Source 1
Turnout and Yes share tell different stories
Dublin South-East recorded the highest Yes share at 74.91%, with turnout of 58.02%. Dublin North-Central had the highest turnout at 68.85%, with a Yes share of 68.95%. Donegal North-East had the lowest turnout at 51.44%, just below Donegal South-West at 51.55%. The chart compares the percentages on one scale and the table identifies the different denominators. Source 1
A constituency’s contribution depends on its count
Dublin South counted 49,109 Yes votes, the most in the file, with a Yes share of 69.90%. Dublin South-East had a higher Yes share but cast 25,655 Yes votes. Summing the Yes and No columns before dividing gives each valid ballot equal weight in the national result. An average of the 43 percentages would give each constituency equal weight. Source 1 Source 2
What the ballot changed
The Thirty-fourth Amendment put into Article 41 that two people may marry regardless of their sex, in accordance with law. Ireland also held a separate referendum that day on lowering the minimum age for presidential candidates from 35 to 21. The marriage proposal passed and the presidential age proposal was rejected. The figures here cover only the marriage ballot. Source 3 Source 2