Less than half of those eligible to vote on the islands off Mayo, Galway and Donegal turned out to cast their ballot on the children’s rights referendum yesterday.

As the Supreme Court upheld a challenge to Government spending on the referendum campaign, of the 2,000-plus registered islanders, less than 1,000 cast their ballots. Their votes will not be counted until Sunday, after the rest of the country has been to the polls.

Islanders off the three counties traditionally vote in advance of the mainland to ensure bad weather does not hamper the return of boxes in time for the count.

Counting of ballots will begin at 9am on Sunday at 28 centres around the country. The results will be collated at the central count centre in Dublin Castle, where referendum returning officer Ríona Ní Fhlanghaile will declare the overall result.