IRELAND
WTSP

Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today May 23, 2015

DUBLIN (USA Today) — Twenty-two years after decriminalizing homosexuality, Ireland was poised Saturday to become the first country to legalize same-sex marriage as a result of a national referendum that has highlighted the dramatic pace at which this traditionally conservative Catholic nation has changed in recent times.

While counting is still taking place, electoral officers reported an unusually high number of people showing up for Friday’s vote to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. National turnout may top 60%.

Campaigners on both sides believe this high turnout, buoyed by strong engagement from younger members of the electorate as well as the many Irish expatriates who returned home to cast their votes, is likely to favor a “Yes” result. …

The referendum is seen as an especially complex one for Ireland, where about 85% of the population still call themselves…