The final tallies were… Yes (60.3%): 955091; No (39.7%) 629088…
But as has been noted throughout the day, Europe is no where near resolving the actual problems… Meanwhile no one in Brussels is thinking about anything other than the lengthening shadow of the Spanish banking crisis…
One thing that’s obvious from watching the body language of the day is: One, the government parties are relieved they can get on with the next bit; two, Sinn Fein got the prize of taking control of the political rebel camp; and three the visible relaxation on the part of Fianna Fail reps who are not just relieved of the burden of being the bad guys, but delighted to talk on behalf of the political grown ups…
Meanwhile in Greece, Alexis Tsipras, the leader of far left Syriza wants the next general election vote to be a sort of referendum on terminating his country’s bailout agreement. Populist no doubt. But politically dangerous too.
If there is anything to be learned from the Irish referendum it must be that large national populations are not keen on taking big risks, even if the alternative is a long dull austere period of slow recovery… It was a hell of a party… Now it’s time to pay the bill…
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty