DUBLIN: Leading Irish actors have urged voters in a video posted online Sunday to legalize abortion in the country, as campaigning intensifies ahead of a referendum later this month on the issue.
The black-and-white video features an ensemble of screen stars voicing their opposition to laws making abortion illegal in Ireland unless there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother.
Women are free to travel abroad for abortions — and thousands do so every year, mainly to England — but they face 14 years imprisonment if convicted of having an illegal termination on the island.
“In Ireland today,” begins “Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham, “if the woman sitting next to you is pregnant” continues local TV star Peter McDonald, “she does not have full rights over her own body” adds Owen McDonnell, famous for playing a fictional police sergeant on Irish TV.
Staring into the camera, a host of other actors — from Cillian Murphy, lead in the BBC hit show “Peaky Blinders,” to Andrew Scott, star of its “Sherlock” series — continue to deliver short messages in the more than two-minute video.
“Why should anyone but me decide what happens to my own body?” Murphy asks.
It concludes with Oscar-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan’s blunt appeal: “Please, vote yes!”
Irish citizens head to the polls on May 25 to decide whether to alter the eighth amendment of the constitution, which recognizes the equal right to life of the unborn and the mother.
There have already been several referendums related to the issue, the first in 1983 which introduced the amendment after a wide margin voted in favor.
A 1992 ballot approved an update to the constitution stating it did not restrict the freedom to travel to another state for an abortion.
Meanwhile a 2013 change in the law, which was not put to a referendum, allowed for the exemption of mothers whose lives are endangered.
The Catholic Church in Ireland has been voicing its opposition to any change in a series of pastoral letters — and urging voters to watch YouTube videos celebrating life.
“It is wrong to terminate life, human life,” wrote Ray Browne, bishop of County Kerry, in one such letter.
“The right to life of the unborn child is a fundamental right. Abortion is wrong.”
If proponents of change prevail at the ballot, a provision will be added to the Irish constitution allowing for “the regulation of termination of pregnancy.”
“How could a person not but be sad to see such a phrase inserted in our Constitution?” Browne asked.
![]()
Leading Irish actors have their say prior to abortion referendum
Leading Irish actors have their say prior to abortion referendum
- Black-and-white video features an ensemble of screen stars voicing their opposition to laws making abortion illegal in Ireland.
- Catholic Church in Ireland has been voicing its opposition to any change, in the law, in a series of pastoral letters.
Five miners trapped deep underground after mudslide hits South African diamond mine
- The miners have been trapped since the early hours of Tuesday, according to a labor alliance
- The mine is in the central city of Kimberley, which is renowned for its diamond mines
JOHANNESBURG: Five miners were trapped deep underground at a South African diamond mine after a mudslide flooded a shaft they were working in, mine officials and a labor union said Thursday.
The miners have been trapped since the early hours of Tuesday, according to the Congress of South African Trade Unions — an alliance of labor unions that includes the main mineworkers union. The congress said the miners were thought to be trapped around 800 meters (half a mile) underground.
Ekapa Mining General Manager Howard Marsden, whose company operates the mine, told national broadcaster SABC on Wednesday that rescuers were pumping water out of the shaft while a separate team was trying to drill a hole to where the miners were believed to be trapped to try to establish communication with them “or any proof of life.”
The mine is in the central city of Kimberley, which is renowned for its diamond mines and was at the heart of the global industry after diamonds were discovered in the area in the late 1800s.
The Minerals Council of South Africa said this month in its annual safety report that 41 miners died in mining accidents in South Africa last year, a record low and down from hundreds a year in the 1990s and early 2000s.
South Africa is among the world’s biggest producers of diamonds and gold, and the top producer of platinum.
The miners have been trapped since the early hours of Tuesday, according to the Congress of South African Trade Unions — an alliance of labor unions that includes the main mineworkers union. The congress said the miners were thought to be trapped around 800 meters (half a mile) underground.
Ekapa Mining General Manager Howard Marsden, whose company operates the mine, told national broadcaster SABC on Wednesday that rescuers were pumping water out of the shaft while a separate team was trying to drill a hole to where the miners were believed to be trapped to try to establish communication with them “or any proof of life.”
The mine is in the central city of Kimberley, which is renowned for its diamond mines and was at the heart of the global industry after diamonds were discovered in the area in the late 1800s.
The Minerals Council of South Africa said this month in its annual safety report that 41 miners died in mining accidents in South Africa last year, a record low and down from hundreds a year in the 1990s and early 2000s.
South Africa is among the world’s biggest producers of diamonds and gold, and the top producer of platinum.
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.