The largest No vote was in Donegal where 51.5 per cent voted Yes to 48.4 per cent No, while the next largest was in Sligo-Leitrim which voted 56.1 per cent to 43.9 per cent to change the Constitution. Last May Donegal was the only constituency to reject removal of the Eighth Amendment from the Constitution in the abortion referendum, and in May 2015 Roscommon-South Leitrim was alone in voting No to same-sex marriage.

In all the Dublin constituencies the Yes vote was over 70 per cent, with the highest in Dublin Bay South, where 76.4 per cent voted Yes. Next was Dun Laoghaire, where 75.3 per cent voted Yes.

Welcoming the result, Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan said Ireland is ‘rightly proud of our reputation as a modern, liberal society’ and ‘We have again sent a message to the world, a strong message that laws against blasphemy do not reflect Irish values and that we do not believe such laws should exist.’

In a brief statement the Catholic bishops said, with the offence of blasphemy gone, “it is vital to ensure that the rights of individuals and communities to practise and live out their faith openly are protected by our law”.

The promotion of “freedom of religion, and the freedom of conscience – for all in society – greatly enriches the social fabric of a country, and is one aspect of respect for the dignity of human persons,” they said.

Commenting on the result, the Irish Times religious affairs correspondent, Patsy McGarry asked why we should ‘stop there?’ He suggested further referendums to remove every reference to God, and changing every use of ‘man’ to ‘citizen’, to make the constitution a truly ‘inclusive’ and a ‘purely legal document’.