IT'S official – Ireland has voted emphatically to repeal the Eighth Amendment and change its abortion laws.
The result was 2 to 1 in favour of Yes with 66.4 per cent –1,429,981 votes – backing the legalisation of abortion.
A total of 723,632 – 33.6 per cent – voted against the change, with a huge 64.1 per cent turnout casting a total of 2,153,613 valid votes.
As early as Tuesday, the Government will begin the process of introducing legislation to permit unrestricted abortion up to 12 weeks.
However No campaigners have described the result as 'a tragedy of historic proportions'.
The first result of the day came from Galway East at around 1.15pm, where 60.2 per cent voted Yes to repealing the amendment.
Yes supporters celebrate at Dublin Castle (Image: RollingNews.ie)That set the trend for the day, as constituency after constituency voted in favour of change, peaking with 78.5 per cent of voters in Dublin Bay South voting Yes.
Only one constituency, Donegal, voted in favour of retaining the Eighth Amendment.
The No vote won 51.9 per cent of the vote in Donegal, on a turnout of 57.1 per cent.
However with the other 39 constituencies voting Yes, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s announced at Dublin Castle this afternoon that ‘The public have spoken’ proved prophetic.
He said: "I'm very pleased with the result. It is a momentous day for Ireland."
Speaking earlier on RTÉ, the Taoiseach described the referendum as ‘a quiet revolution’.
'A nation united'
“What we have seen today is a culmination of a quiet revolution that’s been taking place in Ireland for the past 10 or 20 years,” he said.
“This has been a great exercise in democracy and the people have spoken.
“The people have said that we want a modern constitution for a modern country, that we trust women and we respect them to make the right decisions and the right choices about their own healthcare.”
The Taoiseach added that the large margin of victory across almost all demographics and constituencies showed Ireland was united on the issue.
“That says to me that we are a nation that’s not divided, we are actually a nations that is united, that we want to make this change," he said.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister for Health Simon Harris celebrate at Dublin Castle (Image: RolllingNews.ie)“It gives the government the mandate that we need now to bring forward the legislation that we promised and have it through the Dail and Seanad and enacted before the end of this year.”
Despite being on the losing side of the vote, Dr Ruth Cullen of the LoveBoth movement vowed the campaign to protect unborn babies will continue.
“We will hold the Taoiseach to his promise that repeal would only lead to abortion in very restrictive circumstances,” she said.
“He gave his word on this, now he must deliver on it. No doubt many people voted for repeal based on the Taoiseach’s promises in this regard.”
See More: Abortion Referendum
