Voting begins in historic Irish abortion referendum as close result predicted

Voting is under way in Ireland as citizens decide whether to liberalise one of Europe’s strictest abortion regimes.

Polls for the historic referendum opened across the country at 7am, with voters opting to either retain or repeal the Eighth Amendment of the state’s constitution, which prohibits terminations unless a mother’s life is in danger.

The result is expected to be announced on Saturday.

A total of 3.3 million citizens are registered to vote, with 6,500 polling stations open across the country.

The referendum is asking whether people want to repeal the Eighth Amendment and replace it with wording that would hand politicians the responsibility to set future laws on abortion, unhindered by constitutional strictures.

The Catholic Church is among influential voices arguing that the life of the unborn should be sacrosanct.

But the retain campaign faces a major challenge from a Yes camp which has portrayed itself as modernising and in step with international opinion.

Polls suggest that those voting to repeal the amendment could secure a narrow victory.

However, there is still doubt over the final outcome.

Indications suggest rural voters are more likely to say No than their urban counterparts, while a significant number of ‘don’t knows’ have cast a degree of uncertainty over the final result.

If the public votes Yes, the Irish Government intends to legislate by the end of the year to make it relatively easy for a woman to obtain the procedure in early pregnancy.

Ministers have promised to allow terminations within the first 12 weeks, subject to medical advice and a cooling-off period, and between 12 and 24 weeks in exceptional circumstances.

The debate during eight weeks of campaigning has been divisive, with the leaders of all the main political parties, including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, backing change.

They argued that a Yes vote represented the compassionate choice for thousands of Irish women forced to travel to England for the procedure.

Opposing them was a vocal No camp, including the bishops, which insisted the life of the child is sacrosanct and interference in that right is immoral.

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Hundreds of people have flown home to take part in the vote, with videos shoing cheering crowds greeting them at Dublin airport.

However, there was a shock for some heading to Ireland from Stansted on Friday morning after their Dublin-bound Ryanair flight was struck by another jet on the runway.

There were no injuries, but the incident caused delays.

There have also been concerns that the vote might be influenced by social media, including Facebook, campaigns.

This has led to fears that the abortion vote could be influenced by factors emanating from outside Ireland, in similar ways to which the US presidential campaign and the Brexit vote was influenced, claim critics.

Anti-abortion groups have also flown in to try and persuade undecided voters in the run-up to Fridays ballot.

Streets in the capital Dublin were festooned with posters from both camps urging people to vote in what has been described by leaders as a ‘once-in-a-generation’ referendum.

The Eighth Amendment is a clause in the constitution which was written after a previous referendum on the issue in 1983 recognised the right to life of the unborn child.

It protects the equal right to life of the mother and the unborn and effectively prohibits abortion in most cases.

In 1992, women were officially given the right to travel abroad, mostly to the UK, to obtain terminations. Pro-repeal campaigners said almost 170,000 have done so.

The liberalisation campaign gathered momentum after an Indian dentist, Savita Halappanavar, died in hospital in Galway aged 31 when she was refused an abortion during a miscarriage.

Her husband, Praveen Halappanavar, said she repeatedly asked for a termination but was refused because there was a foetal heartbeat.