Minor exchanges at Mayo count centre

A MINOR incident involving ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ supporters at the Mayo count centre in Castlebar led to an intervention by the Returning Officer, Fintan Murphy.

The official count wasn’t long underway just after 12.30 p.m. when proceedings were interrupted by verbal exchanges.

A member of Together for Yes Mayo was heard loudly telling a No campaigner she had 'every right to celebrate' ahead of an anticipated victory for the Yes lobby in the constituency.

The brief exchange came to an end when Mr. Murphy made an appeal for calm.

Reminding the large turnout of tally persons from both sides that the official count was underway, Mr. Murphy called for 'courtesy' and 'respect'.

A result in the Mayo constituency is expected by mid-afternoon.

Tally teams put the vote in favour of repeal of the 8th Amendment in Mayo at 57 per cent to 43 per cent.

The total electorate in Mayo was in the region of 56,700.

The total turnout in the constituency was 62 per cent, up two per cent on the Equality Referendum in 2016.