The constitutional referendum on removing the time restriction on divorce from the Constitution has passed. It had 82.07 per cent support, one of the largest margins in a referendum since the vote on the Belfast Agreement in 1998.

There were 1,384,192 ballots cast in favour of the proposal, with 302,319 cast against. The total valid poll was 1,686,511, with 40,545 invalid ballots. Final turnout across the 31 constituencies was 50.89 per cent. The strongest No vote came in Monaghan, where just under one quarter of voters rejected the proposal. The referendum enjoyed strongest support in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, where 86.7 per cent of voters supported it.

The Government will now legislate to reduce the waiting time to file for a divorce from four years out of the last five, to two years out of the last three. A future Oireachtas will be free to further reduce the waiting time.