The Seanad, the upper house of the 26-County parliament, has been saved from abolition by a small margin following counting of votes in
 yesterday's referendum. With final results in from all 43 constituencies, and excluding the 1.2 per cent of voters who spoiled their ballots, 51.7 per cent of the electorate rejected the proposition to scrap the Seanad with 48.3 per cent voting in favour.

Polls rights up to referendum day had predicted voters would accept one of the biggest changes ever to Eamon de Valera's 1937 constitution to scrap the almost powerless body. The result is being seen as a significant embarrassment for Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who refused to even enter into a debate on the issue.

Of the 1,226,374 valid votes cast, 591,937 were in favour and 634,437 votes were against the proposal, a margin of 42,500 votes. During the course of counting, a clear pattern emerged of a solid 'No' vote in all Dublin constituencies and in the surrounding counties of Leinster.

One of the few constituencies to deliver a strong 'Yes' vote was Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s constituency of Mayo, which voted 57 per cent 'Yes' and 43 per cent 'No'.  Another was Kerry South, which voted in favour by 55 per cent to 45 percent. Many of the rural counties in Connaught, the midlands and Munster also recorded small 'Yes' votes, as well as Limerick City.

In contrast, the highest vote against was in Dublin South-East, where voters rejected the referendum by 61 per cent to 39 per cent. Another relatively wealthy constituency, Dun Laoghaire rejected the amendment by the second-highest margin of 57 per cent to 43 per ceont.

Two Donegal constituencies, which often run counter to the national trend, were among those to show a small 'No' majority, as were the urban areas in other parts of Ireland.

The overall turnout counted reached just over 39 per cent, ranging from a low of 30 per cent in the Donegal constituencies to a high of 48 per cent in Dublin North Central and 46 per cent in Dun Laoghaire.

Fianna Fáil and the Green Party were the only parties to oppose the measure, while Fine Gael, Labour, Sinn Fein and other left-wing groups backed a 'Yes' vote.