Ireland national vote on “gay marriage” on Friday. Pro-family activists using MassResistance info to warn voters of consequences.

[GLEN’s] multi-year grant from Atlantic enabled them to ramp up their work into a full-time, highly professionalised lobbying machine. It works ‘inside’ the machinery of government where it uses a ‘principled pragmatist’ model in which it consolidates support, wins over the doubtful and pacifies those who are opposed.

“Groupthink has been exalted to an Irish sacrament. While journalists were targeting tiny bootstrap conservative organisations and accusing them of being American-funded, GLEN, the most successful lobby group in Irish history, was swimming in greenbacks.”

It’s not just Big Gay American Money going to fool and even threaten the Irish people, it is also despicable American corporations who are saying a “no” vote will harm the Irish economy, including Twitter, which hardly has a presence in Ireland at all. According to the American “Irish Central” website, “A ‘No’ vote in the marriage equality referendum could have negative consequences for investment in Ireland.”

The Irish public had been at the receiving end of a constant deluge of LGBT propaganda for several years, and this has greatly intensified over the past weeks in an orchestrated campaign. Just one example: Large numbers of celebrities have come out in favour of the proposed amendment, and the media is full of emotional stories among the lines of “I want my gay brother/son to be happy and be able to marry like his siblings.”

This is a true David vs Goliath conflict. The media are 100% in favour of a “yes” vote. The politicians are virtually 100% in favour of a “yes” vote. Of 166 members of parliament only a handful are openly opposing this proposal. It has been reported that just 6 members of parliament (between both houses) have indicated that they will vote no. The others who are quietly against, are scared of being kicked out of their political parties into electoral oblivion. There is NO political partly opposing this drastic change.

Even the national police force (Gardaí) has been employed in favour of the “yes” side by (among other things) giving students an easier path to voter registration than the general population.

Young people are 95% in favour of the proposal, whereas older people are the other way. One-stop voter registration desks were set up in Colleges, whereas the rest of the population had two or three stops to make. The same tables were laden with “vote yes” leaflets with backdrops of “yes” posters. This along with the input of trade unions, and professional organisations, the media, etc. has seriously skewed the democratic process.

The “yes” campaign has been marked by a great deal of aggression and verbal abuse directed toward the “no” side. Many people are afraid to declare openly that they’re going to vote “no.” There is a tradition here of putting up political posters before elections and referenda. “No” posters have been extensively removed and defaced, and are hugely outnumbered by the well-funded “yes” side posters.

“Ireland’s ‘tolerant’ elite now demonise anyone who opposes gay marriage . . . in Ireland, to be a naysayer in relation to gay marriage is basically to make yourself a moral leper, unfit for polite society, ripe for exclusion from respectable circles. Irish opponents of gay marriage aren’t only encouraged to feel shy — they’re encouraged to feel shame.”

On the “no” side, a variety of organisations have sprung up virtually overnight as the impact of the proposal dawned on many ordinary people. These include http://mothersandfathersmatter.org, http://keepmarriage.org, and others. In addition, the longer established Roman Catholic organisation, The Iona Institute (http://ionainstitute.ie) has very ably taken on the media, and has done a good job in the many debates on TV and radio. Large numbers of church groups have been very active in publishing and distributing “no” literature.

This has mobilised grass root people who have never before been involved in political issues. Many ordinary people feel hugely let down by the politicians. They face a gargantuan task, but the government has been defeated on previous proposed constitutional changes, so it’s possible again.

It is not a bit surprising that polls have gone this way. After all, we live in an age where the wrong answer on faux marriage can cost you your job or your business. Why would anyone tell an utter stranger on the phone that they oppose faux marriage? It is surprising that anyone does.

So, even 78 percent poll results in Ireland do not surprise, or even particularly worry because something happens in the privacy of that voting booth. In there, people are free from gay coercion, free to consider what marriage really is, free to consider that children really do need a mother and a father and that two men can never be a mother and two women can never provide a father, free to vote no on faux marriage.

I was out canvassing last evening for a "no" vote. We passed out gospel tracts with our "Reasons to Vote No" [postcard]. It's a great way to get to know neighbours, and a good excuse to talk to them, besides the gospel of course.

I was greatly encouraged to find a generally warm welcome with an estimated 75% "no" sentiment, even from two young ladies about 20 years of age. Their younger sister of about 13 came by and quipped: "it's not natural!". Praise God, there are still some sensible young people left in Ireland!

However this was an older population group overall. They are very angry at this referendum and will tell the politicians next year at the election.

We had some very frank, warm conversations with many people once they learned we were on the "no" side.

Paddy who was with me, had a brisk exchange with an agitated homosexual who accused us of being "homophobic". I received a nasty text message soon after finishing.

Another pair were out distributing the Reasons to Vote No leaflet in a very affluent area and got a nasty reaction: verbal abuse and tearing up of the leaflet in front of them! But there was one encouraging person among several hostile ones.