An opinion poll carried out by Amárach Research on behalf of
the Life Institute and Family and Life shows that the vast majority of Irish
voters believe Taoiseach Enda Kenny is wrong to try to force pro-life TDs and
Senators to vote for his abortion legislation It also shows that 86 per cent of voters would prefer to
see the abortion issue resolved by popular referendum than by the politicians
in Leinster House. A similar proportion believe that if legislators are to
decide the issue they should be allowed a free vote. See reports by LifeInstitute and Irish Catholic.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has repeatedly insisted that his Fine
Gael colleagues will not be allowed to vote according to their consciences. It
is clear from the poll results that this autocratic style of leadership is not
favoured by Fine Gael voters, among whom support for a free vote is
exceptionally high at 74 per cent. Support for a free vote is strongest among
Fianna Fáil voters at 85 per cent.
Niamh Ui Bhriain of the Life Institute said that the poll
showed that TDs such as Peter Mathews were more in tune with the public mood
than the Cabinet, and that the public did not agree with the bullying attitude
of party leaders towards conscience-based objection to the legislation.
Mr Kenny, however, remains adamant that a three line whip
will apply and that anyone who votes against the government will be expelled
from the Fine Geal parliamentary party. Minister for Finance Michael Noonan
said at the weekend, “We don’t give free votes and everybody, when they decided
to become a Fine Gael candidate, signs a pledge that they will vote with the
party and that’s our system.” He made no mention of the fact that before the
last election Fine Gael candidates also pledged not to legislate for abortion.
The poll also found strong support for the idea of resolving
the abortion issue by way of a referendum (86 per cent, excluding don’t knows).
A new generation has grown up since the last abortion referendum, yet our focus
groups revealed continuing interest and engagement in the issue among young
people as well as old. Preference for a referendum is actually higher among
under-35s (92 per cent) than over-35s (82 per cent). Women are more likely than
men to prefer a referendum, and support is strongest among Fianna Fáil voters
(90%).
When it comes to the issue of voting intentions, a
substantial 58pc of Fianna Fáil supporters say they would be less likely to support
a TD in a future election who voted in favour of abortion in the Dáil division
on the issue. For Fine Gael voters, a significant minority of 43pc of
supporters said they would be less likely to support a candidate in favour of
the legislation and 34pc of Sinn Féin voters agreed that they’d be less likely
to support party TDs who back abortion. Just 16pc of Labour supporters and 29pc
of Independent supporters said a candidates’ support for abortion would make
them less likely to vote to re-elect that candidate.
