On 9 March 2018,
Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government Eoghan Murphy established the statutory
Referendum Commission to oversee the referendum campaign, with
High Court judge Isobel Kennedy as chair. Both
Fine Gael and
Fianna Fáil had allowed their
TDs a free vote on the issue in the
Dáil. on 21 April,
Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader
Leo Varadkar launched a Fine Gael "Vote Yes" campaign for Yes-supporting party members, along with party colleagues, including Minister for Health
Simon Harris and Fine Gael referendum coordinator,
Josepha Madigan. On 8 May 2018, due to controversy over the origin, number, content, and targeting of adverts on social media,
Facebook announced that it would block advertisements placed by foreign entities, most of whom are in the United States, and limit them to adverts placed by Irish organisations. On 9 May,
Google announced that it was blocking all adverts on the referendum from its advertising platform and
YouTube, citing concerns around the integrity of elections. On 9 May, the fund-raising web pages of Together for Yes, Amnesty Ireland, and Termination for Medical Reasons were subjected to a
denial-of-service attack. On 20 May, the parents of
Savita Halappanavar called for a Yes vote, her father saying, "I hope the people of Ireland will vote yes for abortion, for the ladies of Ireland and the people of Ireland. My daughter, she lost her life because of this abortion law, because of the diagnosis, and she could not have an abortion. She died." After the Yes vote won, Halappanavar's father thanked the people of Ireland. On 23 May,
CNN reported that American-based anti-abortion groups, such as "Let Them Live", have flown to Ireland, in order to sway voters to vote No to the amendment. They entered Ireland by lying to Irish border control about their reason for coming to Ireland, claiming they were only in Ireland to document the event and nothing more. On 24 May,
The New York Times reported that thousands of Irish citizens living around the world were travelling back to Ireland to vote in the referendum –
postal or
absentee voting is not generally allowed. These voters coalesced online under the
social media hashtag "#HomeToVote" and in-person during their transport. The use of the
#HomeToVote hashtag was part of a larger campaign effort from activists who utilised social media, particularly Twitter, to connect and communicate with citizens. Together for Yes used social media to highlight the lived experiences of women endangered by the abortion ban, placing what was viewed as a private issue into the public to "mobilise emotions" online, in the hope that they would vote "Yes".
Endorsing a Yes vote ;Political parties •
Communist Party of Ireland •
Éirígí •
Green Party Party leader
Brendan Howlin stated their long standing view was that it was a complex issue what should not be dealt with by a few lines in the constitution. Howlin said: "The Labour Party position is in the case of fatal foetal abnormality, of pregnancy by rape or incest, or where there is a threat to the health of a mother, that option should be available in the discussion between an individual woman and her clinicians." •
Solidarity–People Before Profit •
The Workers' Party ;Other organisations •
Together for Yes, led by directors from three organisations (The Abortion Rights Campaign, The Coalition to Repeal the Eight and The National Women's Council) was an umbrella group bringing together many pro-repeal organisations, including the
Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the
Irish Family Planning Association, the
Union of Students in Ireland,
SIPTU, and Inclusion Ireland, the national association for people with an intellectual disability. • The Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists: The executive committee of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists within the
Royal College of Physicians of Ireland voted 18–0, with one abstention, in favour of repeal. • The
Irish Congress of Trade Unions and constituent members
Unite,
Mandate, the
Communications Workers' Union, and SIPTU published a newspaper with many articles calling for a Yes vote on
International Workers' Day. •
Amnesty International Ireland, Termination for Medical Reasons, Women's Health in Ireland, The Coalition to Repeal the Eighth, The Abortion Rights Campaign, Choice Ireland, and ROSA were all among those who registered as campaigning on a Yes Vote. •
The Irish Times endorsed a Yes vote in an
editorial, arguing, "The Eighth Amendment has turned out to be more damaging than its critics in those febrile days dared imagine", and urging readers to "Repeal the Eighth".
Endorsing a No vote ;Political Parties •
Renua. The political party had been established from a revolt by some
Fine Gael members who rejected the whip to vote against the
Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill. While they had been open to a coalition planning to legislate for abortion in 2015, and had declared a neutral stance in 2016, In March 2017, the party declared it was against any repeal of the amendment. Then-leader
John Leahy said that, while members declaring freedom of conscience would not be asked to support or canvas, he expected that party candidates "will be required to subscribe fully to our position on this matter". who launched the "Abortion Never" campaign, though the party was unregistered at this point. • Save the 8th, a campaign supported by the Life Institute and
Youth Defence, registered with the
Standards in Public Office Commission in January 2018. • The
Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference said repealing the Eighth Amendment would be "a shocking step" and "a manifest injustice". • The
Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland. • The
Orange Order.
Neutral and other positions A number of political parties, religious bodies and other organisations took a freedom of
conscience vote or position, calling on individual members to decide for themselves.
Political parties •
Fianna Fáil did not take a formal position on the referendum. Nonetheless, the party's leader Micheál Martin supported "Yes", and was one of the two speakers for the "Yes" side in the final televised debate before the vote, along with Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.
Religious bodies • The
Catholic Church did not take an official position on the referendum, leaving public campaigning to civil groups said to ensure they were seen as "not interfering directly in the process". Though some Church leadership, including the Irish Bishops Conference wrote pastoral letters and shared messages urging parishioners to vote No. This prompted the Association of Catholic Priests to issue a statement that they were concerned about using the pulpit in this manner, saying "we believe this is inappropriate and insensitive and will be regarded by some as an abuse of the Eucharist." • The
Church of Ireland issued statements favouring giving the
Oireachtas responsibility for abortion legislation, but opposing unrestricted abortion up to 12 weeks' gestation; it concluded, "We therefore ask Church members to think through the issues involved carefully and with prayer". This contrasted to their position in the 1983 referendum. In the weeks before the referendum they reflected on that statement saying "At this time, we felt, in order to save as many lives as possible, the Eighth Amendment should be retained. That was communicated by letter throughout our church, but that is for moral guidance. In reality, people must vote according to their conscience. We do not prescribe to people how they should vote." In April 2015 the Methodist Church's Council on Social Responsibility issued a statement to say that the Church was "against abortion on demand" and that "We would urge that abortion is seen as a last resort. Any provision of an abortion service does not mean that it has to be availed of, and there should be no pressure to do so". This was perceived by some to be in favour of a No vote. In May 2015 clarified this statement, with saying Dr Fergus O'Ferrall "The Methodist Church would never dare to tell members how to vote" as well as "If it's not carried, the issues are not going to go away."
Other organisations • The
Gaelic Athletic Association reiterated its policy of neutrality on political issues, in response to media reports of various players and managers publicly taking sides. • The
Association of Catholic Priests took a neutral position during the referendum. They asked priests not to direct parishioners to a Yes or No vote
Television debates during the referendum campaign ==Opinion and exit polling==