by Alana MacAskill

EXCITEMENT and controversy built yesterday on the eve of Ireland’s historic referendum on same-sex marriage.

It asks voters to support or reject a new clause in the 78-year-old Irish constitution reading: “Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.”

Yes Equality director Grainne Healy said: “The spontaneous momentum witnessed in Ireland for marriage equality has been incredible, humbling and historic.”

Deputy Prime Minister Joan Burton also showed her wholehearted support, stating: “Extending marriage rights to gay people will prove equality is the cornerstone of the republic.”

Ireland may not be the first country to support same-sex marriage, but it is the first time the contentious subject has gone to a popular vote.

The referendum comes 22 years after Ireland decriminalised homosexuality.

However, Ireland’s powerful Catholic church is against the possibility of same-sex marriage.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin claimed that the constitutional change would “leave people uncertain” and that “marriage is about a man and women coming together.”

But the Communist Party of Ireland called on working people to vote Yes.“This is a matter of democracy and of equal rights. Rights denied to one are rights denied to us all,” it said in a statement.

A surge of more than 60,000 voters added to the electoral register has prompted uncertainty over the vote, but Ms Burton hoped that the referendum would make “a statement about the country we want to live in, the country we want to create.”

The result is set to be announced tomorrow.