The Irish people will go to the polls on May 25th to decide whether to remove the Eighth Amendment from the Constitution.
Minister for Health Simon Harris said earlier: “We’re delivering on the Taoiseach’s commitment that he made on his first day in office, to give the people of Ireland their say on this deeply personal and private and matter by this summer and we have now arrived at a point where we can and we will.
“Eoghan [Murphy] has just set the polling date – the referendum will take place on the 25th of May. I want to encourage everybody to make sure that they can exercise their franchise and to follow Eoghan’s advice in terms of ensuring you are registered to vote.”
The date being set comes on the same day as the publication of the draft heads of legislation to allow for abortion in certain circumstances if the 8th Amendment is removed from the Constitution.
This was widely welcomed, with Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald saying that it is important that the public have a sense of what will come before the Oireachtas in the event of the 8th Amendment being removed.
“However, the legislation cannot come before the Oireachtas unless we first remove the 8th Amendment and therefore it is now important that all those who want to see this happen put their shoulder to the wheel in this campaign in order to get the right result,” she said.
Campaigning for the referendum will last for eight weeks.
It’s time.
Mark your calendars as “Busy Voting” as the referendum on repealing the Eighth Amendment will take place on Friday, May 25 🗳 #Together4Yes #StudentsForChoice – https://t.co/mdblnIdRZ0
— Union Of Students In Ireland (@TheUSI) March 28, 2018
A referendum to repeal the 8th amendment will take place on Friday, 25th May. What a momentous moment, and a real credit to the activists who have been working for this. Every day counts between now and then. We can do this! #Together4yes
— Galway Pro-Choice (@GalwayProChoice) March 28, 2018
Referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment will take place on Friday, 25th May. The people will have their say
— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) March 28, 2018
We have a date – the #EighthAmendment referendum will be held on Friday 25th of May.
We will have the Gardaà in to stamp your voter registration forms and change of address forms again 11am-1pm Monday 16th April at Smokey’s Café #NUIG #Galway pic.twitter.com/jba83zAEG2— NUIG Students’ Union (@NUIGSU) March 28, 2018
