In Cork the indications were that, while the changes in Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution were well understood by the 318,000strong electorate, the issue of the Amsterdam Treaty and how it might affect Ireland was less well understood, reports Dick Hogan, Southern Correspondent.
At several polling stations in the city and county, returning officers said voters arriving during the early stages of the day were quite clear on how they would deal with the proposed change in the Constitution, but were asking advice about what exactly the Amsterdam Treaty meant. From early morning, throughout Cork city and county, voting was slow and the best average some hours before close of polling suggested that more than 50 per cent of the electorate had voted. In the normally bustling Douglas town centre at St Columbanus's primary school, the returning officer said not more than 18 people had registered their votes before 10.30 a.m. However, the figure had increased significantly by evening and, in keeping with other polling booths throughout Cork city and county, it seemed as if the number of voters would exceed the 60 per cent mark.
Tallymen at the polling stations said most votes in respect of the Belfast Agreement had been registered as Yes, while the same held for the Amsterdam Treaty, despite more confusion on this issue.
The Minister for Education, Mr Martin, was one of the first to vote in the city at Ballinlough National School, with his wife, Mary. Mr Martin was Fianna Fail's director of elections for the Amsterdam Treaty.
Other early voters were Mr Joe Walsh, Minister for Agriculture, in Cork South West; Mr Peter Barry, former minister for foreign affairs, who played a pivotal role in negotiating the Anglo-Irish Agreement without which the peace process would never have got under way. All three politicians voted Yes to both proposals in the referendums.