While Tallaght was saying No it was a resounding Yes from the more affluent suburb of Milltown as a tour of Dublin polling stations highlighted the divided opinions, writes Mary Fitzgerald
THE LISBON Treaty split June Davey's family down the middle. Along with her daughter, Davey voted No in yesterday's referendum. Her husband and son, however, ticked the Yes box on the ballot paper.
"I wasn't 100 per cent sure so I decided to go for No," Davey, a clerk, said after casting her vote at Scoil Aonghusa in Tallaght. Fears about Ireland's corporate tax rate also played a part.
"Lots of my relatives have small businesses and we're worried about tax rates coming from Europe." The Government's campaign didn't impress her. "All the Government was saying was Yes, Yes, Yes. I found its whole approach very condescending."
Her taxi driver husband, John, said he couldn't see any reason to reject the treaty. "Since joining the EU this country has done nothing but progress. We're part of it, let's just continue that way."
Mr Davey was one of two Yes voters out of 17 people The Irish Timesspoke to at Scoil Aonghusa. Most people expressed similar opinions to those voiced by Norman Fee (28), an inspector with Iarnród Éireann.
"The Government is telling us we should vote Yes and that we'll be sorry if we don't but they're not explaining why, so it looks a bit sketchy to me," he said. "I'm not too sure what it's all about and I don't think the Government did a good enough job in telling us. It's better to vote No in that case."
David McGill (34), a forklift driver, said: "I voted No because there are too many doubts in my mind on the issues involved."
Marian Orr (53) voted against a treaty she believes favours big business above everything else. "If this treaty is passed, Ireland's small businesses won't have a chance. It's good for big business and that's it," he said.
For Angela Carroll, a pub manager, it was more a protest against EU bureaucracy. "I feel we should make our own decisions - I don't want Europe making them for us."
Nonagenarian Mary Hopkins was piqued at the loss of a permanent commissioner. "They should never have agreed to that. We have no one to speak for us in Europe now."
Printer Thomas Behan (62) said his was a protest vote. "I don't trust or like this Government, and our Taoiseach hasn't a clue, he hasn't even read the bloody thing. Plus I don't understand this treaty and so I'd rather vote No."
His son, Patrick (28), agreed. "I don't know what I'd be voting Yes for. Why vote for something you don't understand?"
Across the city at the polling station at St Joseph's school in Milltown, Yes voters predominated. Only two out of the 11 voters The Irish Timesspoke to were voting No.
Gwen Fogarty echoed the sentiments of many when she explained that her decision to vote Yes was based "more on a general sense that this is the best way forward" than familiarity with the treaty's provisions.
"We're so much involved in Europe and it's better to continue along that path," said developer Eugene Renehan. "We're not able to go it alone."
Daniel O'Sullivan (20), a commerce student at UCD, said many people he knew were voting No "just for the sake of opposing it". But he was voting Yes. "I don't want Europe to leave us behind . . . the EU has given us a lot in the past and it could give us a lot more in the future."
For teacher Mary Downey, it was a last minute decision. "All along I was thinking No but I finally decided Yes because there are more positives to it," she said. "The fact Sinn Féin was on the No side put me off, plus many of the No arguments seemed quite far-fetched. I think when it comes to the crunch people will go for Europe."