Irish voters back gay marriage in 'social revolution'

By News on the Net Reuters —— Bio and Archives May 23, 2015

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DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish voters backed same-sex marriage by a landslide in a referendum marking a dramatic social shift in the traditionally Catholic country, government ministers and opponents of the bill said on Saturday.

Final results were not expected until around 5 p.m. (12.00 a.m. ET), but ministers predicted Ireland had become the first country to adopt same-sex marriage via a popular vote, by a margin of around two-to-one, just two decades after it decriminalized homosexuality. With over a third of the results in, all 17 of the 43 voting areas to declare had backed gay marriage. More....