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TWO OPINION polls on the Eighth Amendment referendum shows that the ‘Yes’ side is ahead, with the number of undecided voters declining.
The Sunday Business Post/Red C poll published today shows that 56% are in favour of voting to repeal the Eighth Amendment, a three-point increase on the same question last month.
The No side is up one point to 27%, while the number of ‘don’t knows’ is at 14%. Three percent refused to answer.
As an additional question, people were asked to estimate the result of the referendum, a technique which predicted the result of the same-sex marriage referendum exactly.
The ‘wisdom of the crowds’ technique predicted that in the Eighth Amendment referendum next Friday, 56% would vote ‘Yes’ and 44% would vote ‘No’.
The poll of more than 1,000 adults was taken between 10 and 16 May. Today’s poll is likely to be one of the last national surveys to be published before polling day.
A Sunday Times/Behaviour & Attitudes poll, also published today, showed that the ‘Yes’ side is on 52%, rising by five percentage points, and that the ‘No’ side is on 24%. When the undecideds are removed, that represents a 68-32 lead for the ‘Yes’ side, according to the poll.
The last poll on the issue, published in the Irish Times on Thursday, showed support for removal of the Eighth Amendment at 58% to 42% once undecideds are excluded.
Including those yet to make up their minds, the Yes vote was placed at 44% with the No vote at 32% and 17% undecided. 7% said they would not vote or declined to say.
Campaigning continued this weekend, with high profile figures on either side of the debate making appeals to win over undecided voters.
“We are now in the final week of campaigning in the referendum to remove the eighth amendment. The eighth has caused and continues to cause untold suffering to women. Next Friday is an opportunity to right this wrong,” Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said, canvassing on Dublin’s Moore street yesterday.
“At all times in this campaign we must ground ourselves in respect and fact and recognise that every day women in this country are suffering under the eighth amendment.
“The fact is that the eighth amendment causes further trauma to victims of rape.
The fact that the eighth amendment forces young girls to import abortion pills illegally at great danger to themselves.
The fact is that women are suffering and will continue to suffer under the eighth amendment.
The crucial fact is that removing the eighth amendment is the only way to help women who are seeking a termination because they are pregnant as a result of rape or who are dealing with the devastating diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormality.
Catholic primate Archbishop Eamon Martin said in his latest message that to be against abortion is not simply “a Catholic thing”.
The innate dignity of every human life is a value for the whole of society – for people of all faiths and none. It is rooted in reason as well as in faith. To take away an innocent human life can never be simply a matter of personal choice.
Martin appealed to voters to say no to repealing the Eighth Amendment “and then do everything you can to ensure that our country will always provide the best possible care and support for all mothers and their unborn children”.
Voting in the Eighth Amendment referendum begins at 7am this coming Friday, with polls closing at 10pm.
- With reporting by Daragh Brophy
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I would imagine there is an awful lot of nervous people in the Sunday Indo who will be writing gushing praise for Mr O Brian this Sunday
Couldn’t agree more… I wonder if they will stop writing the crap they write every week acting as a propaganda vehicle for FFG/Labour … doubt it!!!!!!!!!!!
Every 3 months they say that the property crises is over, and that we should all buy houses again. They slam the 1916 volunteers every week, and pine for return to British rule on the Island. They supported the Iraq war, afghan war, and belittle Argentinas claim to the Falkland Islands. They are anti-Palestinian in their editorials and never say one good word about the peace process in the North.
Will this sacking make one bit of difference to the paper?? If not, i still wont buy it.
It’s the Indo.
They won’t be writing about Mr. O’Brian, they’ll be writing about (unproven) public reaction to Mr. O’Brian.
It’s never “Event occurred”, but always “Outrage over event occurred”. :-/
As an ex employee of the indo who was part of the 250 staff made redundant in 2004 i am delighted to see the end of the o reilly reign.They used the paper to push their agenda of support for aherne during the celtic tiger.I bet Anne Harris is delighted she wrote that pile of crap in last weeks sindo uligising about the O Reilly family nice epitath …I hope O Brien continues the purge and removes the nepotism that is rife in the editorial rooms of the sindo and return the paper to what it once was a newspaper and not the toy of o connor,harris,fanning and any ff td or ex girl friend of aherne.And before we hear anyone complain about control of media in one persons hand think back to o reilly and the tribune,star,independent,evening herald,the london independent,belfast telegraph,sindo,and the loan of money to the Irish Press during the 8os all run by one family…Its a great day for independent newspapers and a very nervous day for all the o reilly loyalists….
Hey Martin. Maybe your layoff was more due to the fact that you can’t spell ‘Ahern’.
jesus catch a grip will ya!! did you get his job as seen as you know so much and are so good at spelling? oh sh*t i said “ya” instead of you…..
I don’t know, Mark. Call me old-fashioned, but I reckon people who work in the industry should know how to spell the name of someone who was Taoiseach for 11 years.
If this means that Barry Egan won’t be churning out any more atrocious ‘world exclusives’ on Z-list celebrities every Sunday then I’m all for it
I hope Barry Egan goes to the Wexford Echo! He’d be deadly at entertaining us with his chummy,intimate,edgy and often hilarious interviews with our local celebs. His articles could recall wild night outs with the likes of Miss Wexford Creamery, flirting with each other under the bridge while doing shots of cans of Dutch Gold! The glamour he could bring.
“It’s Payback Time.”
“In the 1997 general election, it endorsed Fianna Fáil under a front page editorial, entitled “It’s Payback Time”. While it suggested its headline referred to the fact that the election offered a chance to “pay back” politicians for their failings, its opponents suggested that the “payback” actually referred to its chance to get revenge for the refusal of the Rainbow Coalition to award the company a mobile phone licence.[3] Tony O’Reilly disputes this claim.” Wikipedia
Gavin your policy of hiring people like Willie o’Dea, Celia Larkin and all the children of the Harris and Fanning families took a once decentish paper and made it a Red Top Broadsheet. Well done on trashing it and Media standards in Ireland. Young Murdock and yourself should go for a few Mojito’s and talk it over.
Gavin didn’t hire any of those people.
He is not the editor, he is the CEO of the publishing company.
Eoghan Harris is rumored to be quitting. He is going to set up the Official Sunday Independent. 35 pages of why the Provo’s were out to get Bertie. FG are a cult and why didn’t the Labour Party ex-stickies listen to him.
And so it begins…..
Maybe now they will turn the Evening Herald around. I remember a time when it was a newspaper and not a competitor to Hello, OK and The Daily Mail. Although, who on earth is buying an evening paper any more?
some evening paper, damn thing is on sale round 10:30 most mornings…..
All I wanna know is who bought the shares ????
I call for a boycott of all of “Fornication Rules” posts. Didn’t you know that he/she is the sole reason for unwanted pregnancies? ;-)
I could fornicate all the time and I don’t have any babies hence my fornication rules
Watch out for the 32 page pull out highlighting all the great things o reilly did for Ireland
Brenny O’Connor – bet he’ll write nice things about Mr O’Brien this weekend….
Lest we ever forget “The smart, ballsy guys are buying up property right now” July 2007
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/the-smart-ballsy-guys-are-buying-up-property-right-now-1047118.html
Can you give us some insight here?
Like what are the consequences of this?
Is this the dawn of a “monumental” shift for Irish media?
For a long time it was a Tabloid printed on a Broad Sheet!
I was sick to the teeth of a lot of the supposed “journalists”
They were obsessed with either themselves or putting forward their own collective agenda which resulted in journalism standards being ignored & thrown out the window
“They were in effect the news” not reporting news, we are the news
Remember Harris on the Late Late championing Bettie before the 07 Election to the Nation!
I am not a huge fan of Denis O’Brien but I have to say I am happy someone is willing to “hopefully” change things and this will result in better Journalism plus not the Z list, BS that is churned out
You seem to be confused.
1) This is over ownership of the group, not editorship of the Sunday Independent.
2) O’Brien is not taking control of INM, it’s gone to Vincent Crowley who has been working alongside the O’Reillys for 20 years.
Paul MC as somebody who worked for the Indo and met TDS and party leaders been ushered up to see o reilly i would say you have no idea how the o reillys operated.O Reilly did hire them as he was Managing Director when Fanning was appointed to the position of Sindo Editor and the papers were his mouth piece…He signed the cheques and agreed the terms and conditions of their employment.Maybe we might actually get a true picture of Tony O Reillys influence in political circles and blow away the supposed sucessful business man that the indo pedalled every agm.Least we forget he was chairman of Eircom,Waterford Crystal,Kerrygold and recently the Indo..My question is were are these once sucessful Irish businesses now.Yes bankrupt
Does this mean no more gratuitous cleavage shots in the Salpa on Sunday?
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!!!!!!
Worst of all, that rat Eoghan Harris writes for them.
Sorry my sincere apologies it was posted – I didn’t recognise the picture as it was a Journal sign not my usual trumpet player. Sorry.
Why not post my comment – it is truthful and why are you afraid of O Brien?
Excuse me? What comment? I haven’t deleted any comments of yours on this article. If you have included a swearword, it may well have fallen foul of an automatic filter. If that is the case, please try posting it again without that.
Does Anybody associated with O Brien own part of the Journal?
Quick answer for you there Frank: No.
Yes, the O’Reillys were/are undesirables but I agree with commenter who says O’Brien is dangerous, a predator – his charitable activities a smokescreen. Out of the frying pan into the fire. However, since more people are rejecting print media in favour of the internet, all is not lost.
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