ABSTRACT
On 6 March 2002 the Irish public went to the polls for the third time in 20 years to vote on a constitutional amendment which would limit the circumstances under which Irish women could avail themselves of an abortion. Not only would the threat of suicide be removed as a legal ground for abortion, but tough new penalties would be introduced for those performing abortions. Remarkably, the section of the electorate that voted, by a margin of less than 11,000 votes, rejected the government’s proposals, leaving open the possibility that a future Irish government might legislate for abortion under certain circumstances. It was the first time that an alliance between the Fianna Fail party, the Catholic Church, and the official pro-life movement was defeated in a referendum on abortion, suggesting that the liberal minority among the Irish electorate may one day become a majority. The results showed a clear urban-rural divide, with all 11 Dublin constituencies and the other large population centres having ‘no’ majorities. A similar pattern had been evident in the divorce referendum of 1995, suggesting that large sections of Irish society are becoming secularised. Indeed, in the six referenda on moral issues which have taken place since the 1960s, the liberal argument has prevailed in four, albeit by small margins in two of them.
