A majority in a plebiscite has voted for a name change to An Daingean, Co Kerry, by 1,005 votes to 90 this afternoon.
The vote, among 1,095 of the 1,222 qualified electors, passed a recommendation to change of name of the town to "Dingle Daingean Uí Chúis".
A minimum of 612 people was required to vote Yes for the plebiscite to be carried. The plebiscite was being held under the 1946 Local Government Act.
But, responding to the result, Minister for Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív said the advice available to him from the Attorney General was that a plebiscite has no legal effect.
Mr Ó Cuív said if the council came to him with the result of the plebiscite he would give it serious consideration.
He added that the Gaeltacht Placenames Order covers in excess of 2,300 Gaeltacht placenames and that problems have only arisen in An Daingean.
A spokesman for Kerry County Council said every effort had been made to keep the identities of those voting, and their vote, secret. The count was held at the Hillgrove Hotel.
Fine Gael West Kerry Cllr Séamus Cosaí Fitzgerald has welcomed the result of the plebiscite announced today. Cllr Fitzgerald called on Mr Ó Cuív to take notice of the result and abide by the demand for use of the name Dingle/Daingean Uí Chúis.
"This is a great day for democracy, and I am delighted that the result was so overwhelming. The Minister for the Gaeltacht can now have no doubts about the views of the people of the area and should act to abide by their wish to use the name Dingle/Daingean Uí Chúis as the official name of the town."
