TRALEE was one of stops for the no campaign group, Mothers and Fathers Matter, who are currently touring the country urging a ‘No’ vote in the upcoming same-sex marriage referendum next Friday.
The group made the news on Tuesday after one of its young supporters suffered an allergic reaction after being struck by an egg on the street in Navan.
Despite this, Paddy Manning of Mothers And Father Matter, is overwhelmingly positive about the reaction the group has been getting around Ireland.
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The marridge referendum no campaign grope, Mother and Fathers Matter, with Tralee supporters. Photo by Gavin O’Connors.
“We’ve had an unbelievable reception. When you start talking to people, they start telling you that they have to stayed quiet because they were afraid people will find out they’re voting no,” said Paddy Manning, an openly gay man and a staunch opponent of same-sex marriage.
“People are voting no, not because they don’t like gay people, but because they know that this isn’t a referendum about gay people, it’s a referendum about family law,” he said.
“The referendum is going to lose, you can feel it and very many of the yes campaigners are aware of it. The yes campaign is failing because they haven’t made an argument. One of the problems was, there may have been a case for it, but they never bothered to make it. What they did was, they said ‘you must vote for this or else you’re a bigot’, that’s a very bad argument,” he said.
The group held a meeting last night in the Fels Point Hotel where a number of speakers , including writer John Waters, addressed a large gathering.
