The Taoiseach has criticised Fianna Fáil politicians for announcing that they were on the winning side of last weekend’s elections after the votes were already counted.
Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea and Senator Lisa Chambers have come out and said they went against the Government’s campaign and voted No in both of last Friday's votes.
Meanwhile, the party’s Cavan Monaghan TD Niamh Smyth has said she backed the Family Amendment but voted ‘No’ in the care vote.
Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness also voted no in both referendums; however, he had indicated he would do so in the run-up to the vote.
Referendums 2024
Speaking in Boston on his St Patrick’s Day trip to the United States, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he does not expect the issue to impact on relations between the Government parties – but questioned the motives of politicians who say one thing and do another.
“Anytime that I have asked people to vote yes, I have voted yes and any time I have asked people to vote no, I voted no,” he said.
“If I ask people to vote for a particular candidate that is what I do – I think that’s the way the vast majority of politicians operate.
“I fully respect that people will do their own thing in the privacy of the ballot box from time to time but I don’t see what is to be gained by saying you were on the winning side after you know they have already won.”
He added that the Fianna Fáil politicians are “all elected in their own right and they’re all grown ups”.
“They’re all free to explain themselves,” he said. “I don’t think I can do it for them.”
Campaign
Senator Chambers has confirmed that she campaigned in favour of a ‘Yes/Yes’ vote on one occasion in Dublin last month – with a Fianna Fáil video showing her on Grafton Street with junior minister Thomas Byrne.
She has since said that she was initially supportive of the Family Amendment but changed her mind towards the end of the campaign after reading the Attorney General’s advice.
She has said she was never supportive of the Family Amendment.
A strong message from women in this referendum; they didn’t want the word mother removed from our constitution. And many people want the Government to do more to enable mothers to stay at home if they want to, that choice isn’t really available for most. #Referendum2024
— Lisa Chambers (@lichamber) March 9, 2024
Deputy O’Dea has said that he did not canvas in favour of a Yes/Yes vote after tweeting a strongly worded criticism of his party’s policies when the ‘No’ vote was confirmed.
Deputy Smyth has said she did a little bit of canvassing for a ‘Yes/Yes’ vote but ended up voting against the care amendment on the day.
She has said she was swayed by the concerns raised by disability advocates including independent Senator Tom Clonan.
