As counting began in the historic referendum on whether Ireland should legalise abortion, the scale of the “home to vote” movement began to emerge, as hundreds of women shared stories of their journeys home to make their voice heard.
There are approximately 828,164 Irish emigrants living abroad, and many of them weren’t going to miss their chance to help make history, sharing their emotional homecoming stories on Twitter.
The #HomeToVote hashtag, which is predominantly being used by pro-repeal ‘yes’ voters, has been full of optimism, hope, and tear-inducing tales of good will and human kindness.
Including people offering donations to pay for flights, and offers of free transport to get voters home in time.
At Stansted airport in Essex, people had even started keeping a tally of the number of ‘yes’ voters they had seen.
Lots were travelling from further afield in Europe, including Spain Sweden and Belgium, and North America.
Despite reports that the vote is in the hands of the ‘undecided’ voters, many pro-yes voters said they were feeling supported. Particularly by security and airport staff.
Making friends along the way, lots of travellers who had been on their own to start, met with fellow repeal voters in departure lounges.
In some of the most heartwarming examples, people - who are not allowed to vote because they are not Irish or have been away from Ireland for too long - were donating money to strangers to pay for their tickets.
People also shared their stories of being on the receiving end of anonymous donations, while others are looking for people who still need the help.
And lots of tweets had children surprising their parents by coming home unannounced.
And for those who made it home, there was a welcome party waiting.
Pass us the tissues.