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 support for a referendum stands at 53% of Catholics, while 72% of Protestant respondents were opposed to the idea. A poll in May 2017 found that 51% were in favour of holding a referendum on a united Ireland within the next five years. In October 2017 a poll found that 61.94 percent were in favour of having a referendum on a united Ireland within the next ten years. The same poll found that 55 percent of those asked would vote to remain within the United Kingdom if a referendum was held tomorrow while 33.7 percent said they would vote yes