With a result expected later, follow the latest news and reaction as votes are counted after Ireland’s referendum on same-sex marriage
I think yes vote has won, says equality minister
#hometovote: Irish abroad return to vote in gay marriage referendum
LGBT rights around the world
11.36am BST
The referendum returning officer says the result may be closer to 5pm than 4pm because of the high number of votes cast.
11.34am BST
RTE reports that in Enda Kenny’s Mayo constituency, 75% of the ballot boxes indicate a 55:45 split in favour of a Yes vote.
11.32am BST
This pict seems to say it all about #MarRef MT @somulligan: So happy and proud of the tally from our polling station pic.twitter.com/CBeBh1FXHL
11.15am BST
Taoiseach Enda Kenny says there was a 'palpable movement' by people to be involved in the same-sex marriage campaign https://t.co/qUHtEJZehr
11.15am BST
Gay Labour party parliamentarian John Lyons, who voted yesterday arm-in-arm with his mother, says: “I’m a very very happy man today. We’ve had a historic count at Ballymum, my home constituency today, looking at 73% for yes. Theres a lot of emotion in people out there today. People will officially feel today a full citizen of Ireland. My Irish mammy was just one of Irish mammies who stood up yesterday to vote.”
11.11am BST
David Davin-Power, an RTE political correspondent, says: “This is a major illustration how Ireland has changed in past 20 years. Only four constituencies outside Dublin voted in favour of divorce in referendum in 1995.”
11.06am BST
Leaders on both sides of Ireland’s gay marriage campaign expect the measure to be approved by a majority of voters. Senior figures from the No campaign say the only question is how large the Yes margin of victory will be.
Cabinet minister Leo Varadkar, who came out at the start of the government’s campaign, says Dublin looks to have voted yes by a margin of 70%, while most districts outside the capital also were reporting strong “yes” leads.
Varadkar said: “We’re the first country in the world to enshrine marriage equality in our constitution and do so by popular mandate. That makes us a beacon, a light to the rest of the world of liberty and equality. It’s a very proud day to be Irish.”
11.00am BST
Ger O’Keefe, 27, a gay Yes campaigner from Waterford, tells Reuters: “It’s very hard for it to sink in, inside screaming and jumping already but I’m just waiting for that exact moment when I can say it.”
10.58am BST
What a hairstyle...
10.54am BST
Taoiseach Enda Kenny says it’s looking positive for a Yes vote in the referendum, which would send a “message of pioneering leadership” from the Irish people.
10.52am BST
Former Blair-era spindoctor Alastair Campbell offers his view:
Ireland led world on smoking legislation. Now looks like being first country to deliver gay marriage with specific popular consent #MARREF
10.49am BST
Leo Varadkar, health minister and Ireland’s first openly gay cabinet member, says it is a special day: “It seems to me that the Irish people had their minds made up on this some time ago.”
10.46am BST
52 boxes from Laois opened, 48 remaining. @FineGael tally says several rural boxes indicate 2-1 #Yes #MarRef #TallyTweets
10.44am BST
More images from the count...
10.39am BST
Ireland’s equality minister has called it already...
I'm calling it. Key boxes opened. It's a yes. And a landslide across Dublin. And I'm so proud to be Irish today. #MarRef
10.33am BST
Ireland correspondent Henry McDonald is at Dublin Castle where the result will be announced later today. He reports: The first ballot box to be opened in Ireland’s referendum on same sex marriage augurs well for a Yes vote. It came from the constituency of Wicklow/East Carlow and showed a 67% Yes/33% No vote.
Later in some predominantly working class constituencies of Dublin the margin for Yes was even higher. One ballot box from Ballyfermot in West Dublin showed an 85% Yes vote.
A Yes vote will be not only a major milestone on the road from a sub-theocratic Church-dominated state to a liberal, secular Republic, but also embolden gay rights campaigners across the world.
10.27am BST
BREAKING: Returning officer says early count at Dublin North Central shows 65-70% Yes. #MarRef http://t.co/Iivmre9uoy pic.twitter.com/9B4rdECLxk
10.21am BST
David Quinn, director of the Iona Institute religious think-tank, which has opposed legalising same-sex marriage, appears to concede defeat already.
Congratulations to the Yes side. Well done. #MarRef
10.13am BST
Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has told RTE Radio he is confident that the referendum will result in the introduction of gay marriage: “I think it was a debate that captured the imagination and I had a strong sense that the Yes vote would win. I think that will be borne out today.”
10.09am BST
A tweet from the Irish Independent gives an impression of the way the wind is blowing.
#Breaking Two boxes in East Meath, from Laytown/Bettystown have shown a 2 to 1 vote in favour of Yes to marriage amendment #MarRef
10.06am BST
It appears that Ireland is on course to make history by becoming the first country in the world to introduce gay marriage by popular vote. While counting has only been underway for an hour, early indications from count centres suggests that the campaign to extend the right to marry to same-sex couples will succeed. A high voter turnout was recorded in all regions, particularly in cities, with a significant youth vote and returning emigrants possibly influencing the ballot.
10.04am BST
Welcome to our live coverage of the result of Ireland’s historic referendum on same-sex marriage. After yesterday’s vote, counting began this morning at 9am and the result should be known later today. We’ll bring you all the developments as they happen.
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