Ireland Votes To Repeal the 8th Amendment

Ireland has decided to Repeal the 8th Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland.

Counting of the votes has concluded in a hugely decisive win for the "Yes" side. Aware that the tide of history was against them, those who campaigned against Repeal conceded defeat early in the day. They must be shocked still at the scale of the landslide.

In all 1,429, 981 voted "Yes". That represents 66.4% of the people who voted, with 33.6% saying "No".

In the heel of the hunt, the exit polls got it just about right.

The result is based on a relatively high turnout for a referendum of 64.8%. It is notable that a huge number of young people – up to an estimated 200,000 registered to vote late in the process, and they turned out in their droves to vote "Yes". There have been joyous scenes in Dublin Castle, where the result of the referendum was officially announced.

The Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, has hailed it as a resounding victory – and few could argue with that.

"That has been a hugely important part of the campaign," Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said. "Young people, and especially young women, have been hugely motivated to bring about change. They have thrown themselves into canvassing, often bringing other members of their family across the line with them to vote 'Yes'. The exit polls show that almost 90% of people in the 18 to 24 age group voted "Yes". That is a remarkable statistic – and is an indication of just how much this country has changed."

Pundits and commentators have used the word 'seismic' to describe the implications of the result – and given the extent to which young people have moved entirely away from the over-weening influence of organised religion, that is not in any way an overstatement.

Within the "Yes" camp, there has been a level of caution, with many sounding a conciliatory note – and offering that this is not a moment for triumphalism. That is fair.

However, it is a moment for celebration. The Irish people have decided that women should have the freedom to control their own destinies. By a resounding majority, they have supported women who experience crisis pregnancies. They have rejected the misogyny which has poisoned the historic experience of women who find themselves having to deal with a crisis pregnancy.

It is an extraordinary moment for Irish women – and for Ireland. Not to celebrate something so profound and liberating would surely seem like an abdication.

Hot Press salutes all of those who participated in the campaign. All of those who told their stories of abortion. All of those who canvassed and persuaded and cajoled. All of those who explained. And all of those who organised – including the doctors, lawyers, scientists, midwives, nurses and more who declared for Yes. And of course the hundred artists, musicians, film-makers and musicians who responded to Hot Press' call.

Every single person who voted 'Yes' played a part in this wonderful day.

"I think it is really important now," Niall Stokes said, "to see if the momentum which brought about this result can be taken across the border. Because the laws there fit into neither the UK, not Ireland. That desperately needs to be changed, so that the women of the North are not discriminated against in the appalling way that they have been for so long."