Result of vote will be known in afternoon

COUNTING IN the Lisbon referendum begins today at 9am.

Separate counts will take place in each of the 43 Dáil constituencies. At the completion of each count, the result will be conveyed to the referendum returning officer Maurice Coughlan at the central count centre in Dublin Castle.

The result for each constituency will be available as it is completed on the returning officer’s website: www.referendum.ie

Mr Coughlan will aggregate the constituency results and declare the overall result of the referendum, probably between 3.30pm and 5.30pm depending on turnout.

A provisional referendum certificate from the constituency results will then be published in Iris Oifigiúil. Within seven days after formal publication, any person who is eligible to vote in a presidential election may apply to the High Court for leave to present a petition questioning the provisional certificate.

If no petition is presented the certificate becomes final and, if it shows that the majority of the votes cast were in favour of the proposal, the relevant Bill is signed by the President and the Constitution is amended accordingly.

Some 150 journalists from 57 media organisations around the world have applied for press accreditation to attend today’s count.

Results from previous referendums can be found in Referendum Results 1937 - 2004, a book published by the Department of the Environment and available to download (in pdf format) from www.environ.ie

RTÉ television’s referendum coverage begins at noon, when early tally estimates should be in.