Ireland Overturns Abortion Ban In Landslide Vote

Dublin, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th May, 2018 ) :Ireland voted by a landslide to ditch its strict abortion laws in a landmark referendum hailed by Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Saturday as a "quiet revolution", triggering scenes of jubilation in Dublin.

Final results showed more than 66 percent of voters in what has been a traditionally staunchly Catholic country backed repealing the constitutional ban on terminations. Hugging, celebrating, singing and cheering wildly, thousands crammed into the courtyard of Dublin Castle, where the official result was declared, chanting "Yes! Yes! Yes!" "Wonderful, wonderful, today is wonderful!" said Eileen Shields, wearing a sticker reading "We made history".

She said she was ostracised by her friends and the Church when she got pregnant outside of marriage as a teenager 46 years ago.

"I'm here because I'm 65 and in 1972 Ireland wasn't a nice place to be when you were 18 and pregnant and on your own," she told AFP.

Wearing "Repeal" tops and "Yes" badges, the crowds celebrated as the verdict was announced, waving Irish flags and placards reading "Thank you", with love hearts on. At Dublin's RDS count centre, 40-year-old nurse Ruth Bowie wept at the results.

She told AFP: "I had to leave my country to get the healthcare that I needed when I was told that my baby wouldn't survive outside the womb and I've told my story over and over again just in the hope that this day would come -- and it's finally come."