WHILE the Yes campaign undoubtedly achieved a comprehensive victory on Saturday, voters in the Republic's most northern county denied it a clean sweep.
Donegal was the only one of the 40 constituencies to return a No vote in the referendum on repealing the constitution's eighth amendment.
The final result had 48 per cent voting Yes and 52 per cent No – compared to the overall result of 66.4 per cent in favour and 33.6 per cent against.
At 57 per cent, turnout in Donegal was lower than the overall average of 64.5 per cent.
Just over 2,500 votes separated the two sides, although the gap increased in rural areas and several polling stations in the Fanad and Inishowen peninsulas near the border were reported to have returned a decisive 70 per cent No vote.
Just one of the 40 constituencies voted No in the #8thref - Donegal pic.twitter.com/8FSnjjtOaH
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) May 26, 2018
In the 1983 referendum which introduced the eighth amendment, Donegal had among the highest votes in favour with Donegal North-East polling 83 per cent.
It has rejected eight out of the last 10 referenda, although it voted narrowly in support of same-sex marriage in 2015.
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Some other constituencies also delivered considerably tighter results on Saturday than the overall vote.
The border constituency of Cavan-Monaghan had the lowest Yes vote at 55.5 per cent, followed by Mayo at 57.1 per cent.
The highest Yes vote was in Dublin Bay South at 78.5 per cent, reflecting strong support across the city.
According to the 2016 Census, Donegal is among several counties with a higher average age profile.
Donegal also had one of the highest dependency ratios, with dependants aged 0-14 and 65-plus making up more than 60 per cent of the population.
And it was only one of two constituencies, the other being Mayo, to register a population decrease, falling by 1.1 per cent from 2011-16.
Exit polls may offer some insight into how these demographics could have influenced the referendum result.
Across the Republic, urban areas voted Yes by 72.3 per cent compared to 63.3 per cent in rural areas, according to an RTÉ's survey which interviewed more than 3,800 people at 175 polling stations.
More women voted Yes (72.1 per cent) compared to men (65.9 per cent).
The highest Yes decision was among voters aged 18-14 (87.6 per cent), while the only age category to vote No were those aged 65 and over (58.7 per cent).
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Eighth amendment referendum: How each constituency voted:
Carlow-Kilkenny
YES: 63.5 per cent
NO: 36.5 per cent
Turnout: 62.0%
Cavan-Monaghan
YES: 55.5 per cent
NO: 44.5 per cent
Turnout: 63.4 per cent
Clare
YES: 64.3 per cent
NO: 35.7 per cent
Turnout: 64.4 per cent
Cork East
YES: 64.1 per cent
NO: 35.9 per cent
Turnout: 63.8 per cent
Cork North-Central
YES: 64.0 per cent
NO: 36.0 per cent
Turnout: 62.4 per cent
Cork North-West
YES: 60.1 per cent
NO: 39.9 per cent
Turnout: 65.9 per cent
Cork South-Central
YES: 68.8 per cent
NO: 31.2 per cent
Turnout: 66.7 per cent
Cork South-West
YES: 64.5 per cent
NO: 35.5 per cent
Turnout: 67.3 per cent
Donegal
YES: 48.1 per cent
NO: 51.9 per cent
Turnout: 57.1 per cent
Dublin Bay North
YES: 74.7 per cent
NO: 25.3 per cent
Turnout: 71.6 per cent
Dublin Bay South
YES: 78.5 per cent
NO: 21.5 per cent
Turnout: 54.9 per cent
Dublin Central
YES: 76.5 per cent
NO: 23.5 per cent
Turnout: 51.5 per cent
Dublin Fingal
YES: 77.0 per cent
NO: 23.0 per cent
Turnout: 70.4 per cent
Dublin Mid-West
YES: 73.3 per cent
NO: 26.7 per cent
Turnout: 67.3 per cent
Dublin North-West
YES: 73.1 per cent
NO: 26.9 per cent
Turnout: 62.8 per cent
Dublin Rathdown
YES: 76.1 per cent
NO: 23.9 per cent
Turnout: 70.1 per cent
Dublin South-Central
YES: 74.8 per cent
NO: 25.2 per cent
Turnout: 59.6 per cent
Dublin South-West
YES: 74.9 per cent
NO: 25.1 per cent
Turnout: 68.6 per cent
Dublin West
YES: 74.0 per cent
NO 26.0 per cent
Turnout: 67.8 per cent
Dún Laoghaire
YES: 77.1 per cent
NO: 22.9 per cent
Turnout: 68.5 per cent
Galway East
YES: 60.2 per cent
NO: 39.8 per cent
Turnout: 63.5 per cent
Galway West
YES: 65.9 per cent
NO: 34.1 per cent
Turnout: 59.9 per cent
Kerry
YES: 58.3 per cent
NO: 41.7 per cent
Turnout: 62.4 per cent
Kildare North
YES: 73.6 per cent
NO: 26.4 per cent
Turnout: 63.8 per cent
Kildare South
YES: 70.7 per cent
NO: 29.3 per cent
Turnout: 61.3 per cent
Laois
YES: 61.4 per cent
NO: 38.6 per cent
Turnout: 62.0 per cent
Limerick City
YES: 66.9 per cent
NO 33.1 per cent
Turnout: 62.0 per cent
Limerick County
YES: 58.1 per cent
NO: 41.9 per cent
Turnout: 62.5 per cent
Longford-Westmeath
YES: 58.3 per cent
NO: 41.7 per cent
Turnout: 59.3 per cent
Louth
YES: 66.6 per cent
NO: 33.4 per cent
Turnout: 65.9 per cent
Mayo
YES: 57.1 per cent
NO: 42.9 per cent
Turnout: 62.1 per cent
Meath East
YES: 69.2 per cent
NO: 30.8 per cent
Turnout: 65.6 per cent
Meath West
YES: 64.0 per cent
NO: 36.0 per cent
Turnout: 62.9 per cent
Offaly
YES: 58.1 per cent
NO: 41.9 per cent
Turnout: 64.7 per cent
Roscommon-Galway
YES: 57.2 per cent
NO: 42.8 per cent
Turnout: 65.7 per cent
Sligo-Leitrim
YES: 59.4 per cent
NO: 40.6 per cent
Turnout: 61.1 per cent
Tipperary
YES: 59.1 per cent
NO: 40.9 per cent
Turnout: 63.8 per cent
Waterford
YES: 69.4 per cent
NO: 30.6 per cent
Turnout: 64.3 per cent
Wexford
YES: 68.4 per cent
NO: 31.6 per cent
Turnout: 66.3 per cent
Wicklow
YES: 74.3 per cent
NO: 25.7 per cent
Turnout: 74.5 per cent
