Mothers and Fathers group reports removal of posters to Gardaí
The Mothers and Fathers group campaigning for a No vote in the up-comimng Marriage Equality referendum has formally reported the tearing down of its posters to the Gardaí.
In a statement, the group said: "“Each morning of this week, Twitter and other social media sites have been full of YES campaigners bragging, and posting photographs of themselves taking down posters belonging to the Mothers and Fathers matter campaign.
"It is with great regret that we have taken the decision to forward all of these materials, tweets, facebook posts and so on to An Garda Siochána."
The group also accused "a significant element of the YES side" of engaging in "a campaign of harassment, intimidation, and criminality".
Mothers and Fathers said their campaign showed there were a significant number of people "simply afraid to admit how they will vote in this referendum for fear of the reaction of YES campaigners".
"We would like to take this opportunity to remind the Irish people that the referendum in May will be conducted by secret ballot, and that all the intimidation and thuggery on earth cannot change the privacy of the ballot box," the group said.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Leo Varadkar appealed for both sides of the same-sex marriage referendum to "keep it respectful".
Supporters of the Yes and No campaigns have exchanged accusations of posters across the country being tampered with or removed in recent days.
Minister Leo Varadkar said he had not seen any examples himself, but called on voters to keep the debate respectful.
"Certainly I wouldn't recommend it as something people do from either side of the campaign. I think it's important that people keep it respectful," he said.
