MARRIAGE EQUALITY - YES !

Ireland is the first country in the world to approve same-sex marriage in a popular nationwide vote.

The official result was declared at Dublin Castle shortly before 7pm on 23rd May.

A total of 1,201,607 people (62.1%) voted Yes and 734,300 (37.9%) voted No.

It is a good feeling not only to be on the winning side but to be living in a country where democracy counts and all of it's people are valued.

The jubilant scene outside of Dublin Castle.

Following the formal announcement of a Yes vote in the marriage equality referendum, Yes Equality Co-directors Grainne Healy and Brian Sheehan addressed the crowds at Dublin Castle:

"Today, we are more truly a nation of equals. The people of Ireland have exercised their Constitutional right and by direct vote they have said an emphatic 'Yes' to Equality. We now join twenty other countries where same-sex marriage has been entirely legalized. We are the first country to do so by a vote of the people.

"This referendum was all about belonging - Irish lesbian and gay citizens had to ask the Irish people if they too can belong to Ireland and belong in Ireland. In their deep generosity the Irish people have said 'Yes'- Yes, we belong. Today's result means that having been 'branded and isolated' for decades, each lesbian and gay person knows now that they too belong in Ireland, as full, equal citizens.

"It means more. It means that lesbian and gay couples belong to each other in a rich, new, and profound way. That lesbian and gay parents belong anew to their children, and their children to them. And that mothers and fathers can now rest assured that their lesbian and gay children belong in the same way as all their children.

"It means that all of us - lesbian, gay, straight, family members, friends, colleagues, allies, voters - belong equally to the Irish national family.

"To the Irish people, to those who voted 'Yes', you have done something that should make you forever proud. Do not forget this moment, this moment when you were your best self, when you chose to make your mark for an Ireland that could be a better and fairer place.

"And to those who did not yet vote with us, we hope that, as lesbian and gay couples marry, you will see that we seek only to add to the happiness and the security of the diverse Irish national family.

"While today is a day for celebration, it is only right that we should remember those who over the years were deprived of the opportunity that this 'Yes' bringss, those who were deprived of a fundamental human right.

"We should remember the many lives blighted by shame, lives lived in loneliness and isolation, lives lost to hostility and fear. No longer should men and women have to hide a part of themselves from others and even from themselves, deprived of the opportunity to love and be loved.

"We should remember too and honour those who took the first brave and lonely steps that led us to this day: those who pointed up the discrimination, the inequality, the segregation; those who refused - often at great personal cost - to be silenced or intimidated by the voices of intolerance; those who fought for equality, inclusion and recognition. They laid the foundations for today's transformative and historic change.

"And there can be no doubt that this campaign for marriage equality has indeed been transformative. It has given LGBT people in Ireland permission to love ourselves and come out more comfortably and completely, some for the first time ever. It has generated a discussion and awareness among Irish people about equality and diversity and fairness - a discussion and awareness that will now flourish and grow."