Irish voters want another referendum to liberalize the laws on abortion according to a new opinion poll – which also suggests majority support remains for same sex marriages.
The latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll says a large majority of Irish voters would like to see another abortion law referendum.
And support for the introduction of same-sex marriage has remained steady since last Spring with an overwhelming majority still supporting the move according to the paper.
Over 67 percent of those polled say they would vote in favor of same sex marriage in next year’s referendum while just 20 percent said No with 9 percent having no opinion and 3 percent refusing to respond.
Asked if another referendum should be held on whether or not to permit abortion in cases of rape or where the fetus will not be born alive, 68 percent said they were in favor, 23 percent against and 9 percent had no opinion.
The Irish Times reports that Labour party voters were the most strongly in favor with 72 percent of them backing the move.
The paper adds that supporters of all parties were almost equally strong in support of a referendum on the issue with Fianna Fáil voters being the ‘least enthusiastic’ about the prospect.
Older voters said they were less inclined to support another referendum with the over-65s being least enthusiastic.
Among the over-65s, 51 percent said they wanted another referendum, but 40 percent said they did not.
Results say that in contrast, 77 percent of the 18 to 24-year-olds favored a referendum with just 12 percent against.
The current Fine Gael/Labour coalition has ruled out any further referendum in the lifetime of their government after difficulties they experienced in getting the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill passed.
The latest Irish Times poll says support remains strong for the introduction of same-sex marriage ahead of next year’s referendum.
The paper says that when undecided voters – or those who refused to respond – are excluded from the poll, the Yes figure rises to 77 percent with 23 percent on the No side.
The poll also found that half the electorate supports the abolition of the offense of blasphemy from the constitution.
The Irish Government announced that a referendum to delete the offense of blasphemy will also be held next year.
In the poll 50 percent said they would vote Yes to deleting the offense, 19 percent said they would vote No, 26 percent had no opinion and 5 percent said they would not vote.
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