It was a very quiet day yesterday for the 14 people sitting behind polling tables in Neilstown National School, Co Dublin. By 5.20 p.m. just 5.4 per cent of the 4,350 voters had dropped by. Polling officers looked bored, having lost interest hours earlier in the books they brought, or the small-talk their table-partner had to offer. Well-used word puzzle books lay around.
And the electorate were just as bored. Typical was 20-yearold Darren who was standing beside his motorbike outside the local shops chatting to his friends. "I haven't got a clue. I'm not interested. It doesn't bother me really, it just doesn't cross my mind."
Neilstown is one of the most socially and economically deprived areas in the State, and election turnouts there have been low in recent years.
Currently in Dublin West, Neilstown will be in the new Dublin Mid-West constituency for the next election.
Ms Nicola Seberry, a young mother taking her daughter home, felt she was more politically aware than her friends and family, as she had taken part in a voters' education course last year. She intended to vote but admitted she knew very little about the Nice Treaty.
"I'm not interested in all that," she said, "I haven't really discussed it with anyone."
Not one person this reporter spoke to had been visited by a canvasser for or against the Nice Treaty.
Even so, older voters were making an effort to cast their ballot. Mrs Maureen Reynolds, in her early 50s, said she was on her way to vote, but felt she hadn't enough information about the issues.
"You read one leaflet and it tells you you're going to be giving up all your rights, then you hear the Government saying it's about something else. People here listen to them talking, and they don't understand their language."
When asked the reason for the low turnout, Mrs Reynolds looked towards the rundown row of shops in Neilstown Shopping Centre.
"I mean, look at this. I'm 21 years living here and there's been nothing done to the area. We all think the politicians are only out for themselves - none of them do much."
Mrs Vera Murphy (70), who was also on her way to vote, said there was no interest among younger people in the referendums.
"I was talking to them, the girls and fellas, and I was trying to say to them `it's your duty, you should vote'. But they don't know what to do."