History of the Republic of Ireland and secular-minded people, urban and rural, middle and working classes. Issues such as divorce, contraception and homosexuality have since become accepted by many and have ceased to be matters of serious political debate. However, legalising abortion remained controversial. Opinion poll evidence on the subject of abortion is mixed. On May 25, 2018 Ireland voted to repeal the ban on abortion. Legislation is expected by the end of the year to allow abortion on demand up to 12 weeks and under restrictions after that. In 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage by means of
United Ireland counties of Northern Ireland taken as a whole contain a plurality of Ulster Protestants who almost all favour continued union with Great Britain, although individually four of the six counties have Irish Catholic majorities and majorities voting for Irish nationalist parties. The religious denominations of the citizens of Northern Ireland are only a generalised guide to likely political preferences, as there are both Protestant nationalists and Catholic unionists. Surveys identify a significant number of Catholics who favour the continuation of the union without identifying themselves as Unionists or British. A poll in May 2017 found that 51% were in favour