Leaders on both sides say Ireland has voted to legalise gay marriage

Leaders on both sides of Ireland's gay marriage campaign say advocates of legalisation have won a resounding victory with the ballot count still underway.

Senior figures from the "no" campaign, who sought to prevent Ireland's constitution from being amended to permit gay marriage, say the only question today is how large the "yes" side's margin of victory will be from yesterday's vote.

An Irish Cabinet minister, Leo Varadkar, who came out as gay at the start of the government's campaign, says Dublin looks to have voted about 70% in favour of gay marriage, while most districts outside the capital also were reporting strong "yes" leads.

Varadkar said: "We're the first country in the world to enshrine marriage equality in our constitution and do so by popular mandate. That makes us a beacon, a light to the rest of the world of liberty and equality. It's a very proud day to be Irish."