Greens point the finger of blame for referendums vote disaster at other parties

Amid the political post-mortem over the landslide No vote, Green leader Eamon Ryan and Equality Minister Roderic O’Gorman have written to their party members suggesting other parties let the Yes side down.

In the letter, the two men said: “Our party ran the most active campaign of any party in Ireland.

“We have learned a lot from the campaign and must now direct all our energies to ensure that we put our best foot forward in June and beyond.”

They said Saturday was a “difficult day” and that from talking to “many members”, some are “disappointed with the outcome and others less so”.

All the main party leaders are facing recriminations following the referendums and now have just 10 weeks to win back voters ahead of the local and European elections.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar appears to be facing the biggest backlash, with demands for a special party meeting to address the issues.

Fianna Fáil minister Mary Butler yesterday admitted “not everybody got behind this across government”.

The main opposition party, Sinn Féin, also has some reflection to do after a ­Sunday Independent Ireland Thinks poll showed more of its supporters voted No than any other party.

Former justice minister Charlie Flanagan has asked for an urgent meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party to “discuss the referendum, its consequences on the direction of the Fine Gael party”.

He wrote to parliamentary party chair Alan Dillon, asking for an “early meeting” to discuss the fallout.

“I was justice minister in 2018 when this matter was given careful consideration and I decided not to proceed at the time,” Mr Flanagan said.

“The preference was straight deletion, but I looked at various forms of wording if we weren’t going on straight deletion and I found it extremely complex and I postponed consideration. Unfortunately, Roderic O’Gorman jumped on the landmine with his eyes wide open and brought his colleagues with him.”

He said the polling station where he voted in Portlaoise saw an 81pc ­rejection of “my party’s proposal”.

“It’s time Fine Gael got back to basics and dealt with issues of concern for the public,” Mr Flanagan added.

He also criticised the lack of a government minister at Dublin Castle when the returning officer announced the final results.

Mr Flanagan, alongside Cork TD Michael Creed, warned colleagues the referendums might not pass at the party’s think-in in Limerick last year.

One Fine Gael minister described the landslide No-No vote being an “open goal” for Sinn Féin, “but they missed it”.

While there may not be immediate “implications” for the Taoiseach as leader of Fine Gael, he needs to “get on top of” local and European elections in 10 weeks’ time.

“The three leaders related on the referendums, but nobody took the lead,” one party source said. “But it’s a blow on the way to locals and Europeans.”

Privately, many government figures said it was “obvious” the care referendum would fall in the days leading up to the campaign.

“Anybody who was out on the doors would tell you it wasn’t going well,” one Fianna Fáil TD said.

Fianna Fáil senator Lisa Chambers revealed on Newstalk that she voted No in the care referendum, while Ms Butler said “the same six or seven people were out the whole time, doing their best to sell it” on the airwaves during campaigning.

“I would have to be straight and say not everybody got behind this across government, I’ll be very clear about that, some people didn’t and that was their own reasoning,” Ms Butler said.

“I do believe if I’ve to be truly honest that we could have done more.”

Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness also said he would be voting No in both referendums.

Government TDs also said NGOs, such as the National Women’s Council, which campaigned for a Yes-Yes, should look at whether they are hearing the voices of the people they represent.

“There’s deep fissures in different NGO groups now,” said one Fine Gael figure.

Labour and the Social ­Democrats also blamed the Government’s “lacklustre” and “confused” campaign.

However, Social Democrats councillor Chris Pender said it was ­“beyond” him why the party continued to back the Yes-Yes vote.

“Is it really so hard for us to admit we were wrong and that we f**ked up by backing a Yes-Yes instead of a Yes-No?” he tweeted yesterday.