Still celebrating their stunning success in the recent gay marriage Referendum those on the ‘liberal left’ in Ireland are desperate to get the abortion issue back onto the agenda.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is unlikely however to risk further alienating his mostly conservative base by broaching what is perhaps the most controversial and divisive social issue in Ireland (and perhaps in the entire western world).

Enda Kenny: ‘I do not believe that this house should be rushed into making a decision… This requires the most careful consideration by whoever is elected… There won’t be a Referendum on this in the lifetime of this Government’

Abortion is illegal in Ireland with the effect of the ban being to export the abortion problem abroad. Countless hundreds of Irish women are forced to make the trip to the UK in order to have an abortion. Despite widescale support to have this issue tackled successive Irish Governments have failed to take any meaningful action with the current Fine Gael and Labour Party coalition no different from their Fianna Fail predecessors.