Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald told the Irish Times that the landslide victory for the Yes side, that some may expect in the upcoming same-sex marriage referendum, is not a definite.

Fitzgerald warned that due to low voter turnouts and other factors, the Yes side are still not guaranteed a victory and that a definite Yes vote should not be taken for granted. She added that the debate period prior to the vote will be a huge deciding factor.

“Referenda have their own momentum in Ireland,” she said. “The actual period of debate is very important. We have experience of support being high and changing, being low and changing.

“I wouldn’t take anything for granted in relation to a referendum on anything. The case has to be made, the rationale has to be clearly understood and people have to put their points of view out there.”

Fitzgerald, who is a part of Fine Gael, said that her party fully supported a Yes vote. “I was so impressed at our ardfheis, when we passed the motion and we had literally hundreds of people in the room,” she said.

“This is a topic that elicits a range of views, understandably, but in terms of putting it to the people and changing our Constitution, I believe it will get the support it needs.”

The referendum will take place in May of this year.