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Ireland votes overwhelmingly to end abortion ban | Photos

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Ireland's prime minister has hailed the culmination of "a quiet revolution" in what was once one of Europe's most socially conservative countries after a landslide referendum vote to liberalise highly restrictive laws on abortion.

Voters in the once deeply Catholic nation backed the change by two to one, a far higher margin than any opinion poll in the run up to the vote had predicted, and allows the government to bring in legislation by the end of the year.

"It's incredible. For all the years and years and years we've been trying to look after women and not been able to look after women, this means everything," said Mary Higgins, obstetrician and Together For Yes campaigner.

Read more: Irish PM hails 'resounding' abortion Yes

For decades, the law forced more than 3000 women to travel to Britain each year for terminations and "Yes" campaigners argued that with others now ordering pills illegally online, abortion was already a reality in Ireland.

The campaign was defined by women publicly sharing their painful experiences of leaving the country for procedures, a key reason why all but one of Ireland's 40 constituencies voted "Yes".

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who campaigned to repeal the laws, had called the vote a once-in-a-generation chance and voters responded by turning out in droves. A turnout of 64 per cent was one of the highest for a referendum.

"Today is a historic day for Ireland. A quiet revolution has taken place," Varadkar, who became Ireland's first openly gay prime minister last year, said on Saturday in a speech after the vote.

"Everyone deserves a second chance. This is Ireland's second chance to treat everyone equally and with compassion and respect. We have voted to look reality in the eye and we did not blink."

The outcome is a new milestone on a path of change for a country which only legalised divorce by a razor thin majority in 1995 before becoming the first in the world to adopt gay marriage by popular vote three years ago.

Anti-abortion activists conceded defeat early on Saturday as their opponents expressed astonishment at the scale of their victory. MPs who campaigned for a "No" vote said they would not seek to block the government's plans to allow abortions with no restriction up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy.

Voters were asked to scrap the constitutional amendment, which gives an unborn child and its mother equal rights to life.

The country's largest newspaper, the Irish Independent, described the result as "a massive moment in Ireland's social history".

Campaigners for change, wearing "Repeal" jumpers and "Yes" badges, gathered at count centres, many in tears and hugging each other. Others sang songs in the sunshine outside the main Dublin results centre as they awaited the official result.

The large crowd cheered Varadkar as he took to the stage to thank them for "trusting women and respecting their choices".

Australian Associated Press