The people have spoken. The bishops have apologised. €4 million went down the drain for the simple reason that the people at the helm could not be convinced that attitudes have changed and time was therefore ripe to introduce legislation for the introduction of divorce. That is why, after all, the people of these islands had voted for joining the European Union.

The majority have now spoken and gave an intelligent reply: yes for divorce legislation. The yes voters were not imposing divorce on anybody. However, had the no voters had their way, they would have imposed a denial of this civil right to those who need it. What a shame! So, a victory for the yes voters is everybody’s victory, while a victory for the no voters would have had a disastrous result and would have shamed our nation before the whole civilised world.

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly declare once more that even though I voted yes, I am not in anyway in favour of divorce.

A happy stable marriage is an ideal which every young couple should seek and strive to achieve. But to do this young people should stop marrying for silly things and be more cautious.

Young people should also beware of unscrupulous lawyers hungry for money who will involve litigating couples in interminable lawsuits just to obtain a simple Bill of divorce. They should likewise keep in mind they are no Hollywood millionaires to contract multiple marriages and divorces.

One last word regarding my fellow Gozitans. Believe me, when I saw the result I gazed with astonishment and disbelief. That Gozitans were good people I knew so well but to tell the truth I never expected that such a great majority would let itself be terrorised with Church sanctions and hellfire. I wrote letters nearly in all the national papers to explain the principles and implications behind voting yes and voting no. Similar principles were also pronounced and explained by other speakers and campaigners. Why did an overall preponderance of Gozitans not take heed?