Just spent the weekend in Dublin for the wife's Birthday and banners, posters and campaigners were quite obviously all over the place regarding the country's vote this week (Friday) to repeal the 8th Amendment on abortion which has been in place since the last referendum in the early 80's.
Ireland's laws on abortion are among the strictest worldwide and although still marginally a very Catholic country there appears to be a gathering momentum, especially from the young for the 'Yes' vote and to repeal the current laws which are designed to give a mother and her unborn child equal rights to life, essentially a near total ban on abortion.
As I was with my wife and 26 year old daughter it provoked quite the debate while we enjoyed some of Dublin's finest hostelries and incumbent live "diddly dee" music.
We are a Catholic family, although somewhat lapsed and it was interesting to hear the views of others around this debate which seemed to increase in intensity exponentially with the volume of Guinness consumed.
Until this weekend it really didn't hold any interest for me personally but having listened to some quite harrowing accounts of those directly impacted by this issue I will be watching with interest for the results.
For those who might be interested here is a link to an article in Time Magazine that does a great job of providing a brief overview of the referendum, it's history and how it might be one of the most significant days at the polls in Ireland's recent history.
http://time.com/5286910/ireland-abortion-laws-history/
It's worth keeping an open mind and realising that abortion is not just a female issue.