Donegal bucks trend to reject treaty 05.10.09

DONEGAL was the only county in the country to say 'No' in Friday's Lisbon Treaty Referendum.
Donegal North East including Inishowen, voted against the treaty by a majority of 51.5% to 48.5%. A total of 29,290 people - or half the electorate in the North East constituency - turned out to cast their votes. Donegal, which also returned the highest No vote in last year's referendum, was again among the top talking points as media pundits analysed the count results. The county's No vote was being attributed variously to Sinn Féin's support in the county as well as fishermen's disaffection with recent EU policies. It was also a huge political and personal blow to the embattled Tánaiste Mary Coughlan whose Donegal South West constituency also returned, albeit narrowly, a majority No vote. A total of 31,544 people turned out in her constituency with the final tally standing at 50.3% No to 49.7% Yes. Despite its rejection of the treaty overall, the Donegal NE Yes vote grew by 13.2% on last year while the No vote dropped by the same amount. South of the county, the Yes vote was up 13.1% while the No vote dropped by the same percentage. As the Government parties, Fine Gael and Labour set aside their differences for one more day to celebrate their joint victory, Sinn Féin described the Donegal result as "remarkable".