Irish women are flying home from across the world to vote in the abortion referendum

Irish women are flying home from across the world to vote in the referendum over whether to overhaul the legislation that currently outlaws abortion in almost all circumstances.

Posting under the hashtag #HomeToVote, hundreds of women and men are sharing the journeys they are making on Twitter.

Citizens on both sides of the argument are travelling from as far afield as Queensland, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Tokyo and LA to cast their ballots.

The referendum will ask voters to have their say on whether to repeal the eighth amendment – a law banning abortion except in a small number of circumstances.

Niamh Downey, an account executive living in London, is flying back to her hometown of Dundalk in order to vote to repeal the eight amendment on Friday.

Her two younger sisters are also flying home to cast their ballots, one travelling from Valencia, Spain, and one also from London.

Niamh said: “There are a lot of ‘No’ posters around my home town.

“For me the concern was that more liberal counties such as Dublin may come across as having a lead for ‘Yes’ in the polls, but I think perhaps that there might be a stronger ‘No’ contingency in my home town.

“We’re flying home simply to vote, I’ll be back on Saturday.”

The #HomeToVote movement on Twitter has made for poignant reading for the women flying back to their home towns.

“It’s very emotional reading through [the hashtag] on Twitter,” Niamh said.

“I feel a reassurance that, perhaps, these Irish ex-pats are going to swing this vote, because at the minute it’s very close.

“This is a highly emotive debate, and I do understand and appreciate that, but it’s a very simple ad clear decision for me. I’ve had family members and friends impacted by the eight amendment.

“Women have died. They have had no choice since 1983 and before that.”

26-year-old Karen Fahy is flying from London to vote against repealing the ban on abortion.

She told the BBC she doesn’t want abortion to be “the first and only choice” for women who have unplanned pregnancies.

“We should be investing and providing support for women in crisis pregnancies,” she said.

“In those very difficult situations when there’s a very severe disability, we should provide more child benefit and support women in education.”

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People living in Ireland are offering help to the people who are flying home to participate in the referendum, from offers of accommodation to lifts to and from the airport.

Author Paraic O’Donnell is acting as a free taxi service from Dublin airport to reduce costs for people who had travelled back.

He said: “This is a really tiny contribution. There are activists who have given years of their lives to make this happen – I don’t want to overstate my role.

“This is a historic moment for us. It’s an opportunity to correct a historic injustice and I don’t want to look back and wonder if there was more I could have done.”

The eighth amendment was brought into law in 1983 after a referendum, meaning that voters under the age of 54 have never had their say on the matter before.

“It’s a once in a generation vote. This won’t happen again, maybe in 30 years time,” said Niamh.

“We need to recognise the effort and the money spent by Irish ex-pats coming from all over the world, no matter what the outcome is.’