Ireland is on course to legalise abortion after a massive turnout of young people seeking to repeal the Eighth Amendment, according to two separate exit polls.

According to the first exit poll after polling stations closed, Ireland voted overwhelmingly in favour of changing the constitution so that abortion can be legalised.

The poll, conducted for The Irish Times by Ipsos/MRBI, suggests that the margin of victory for the 'Yes' side will be 68pc to 32pc.

The poll was conducted by interviewing four thousands voters as they left polling stations today.

The sampling began at 7am and was conducted at 160 locations across every constituency throughout the day, according to the Irish Times.

Meanwhile, according to the RTE Behaviour and Attitudes poll, a total of 69.4pc of voters ticked the 'Yes' box.

Polling stations closed at 10pm on Friday evening and voter turnout of up to 70pc was recorded in some parts of the country.

Gender:

According to the Irish Times poll, women were strongly in favour of repeal, with 70pc in favour, and 30pc against.

Some 65pc of men who voted were in favour of repeal, while 35pc were against.

According to the RTE poll, a total of 69.9pc of men voted 'Yes'. Meanwhile, 72.1pc of women voted 'Yes'.

Urban/Rural:

The Irish Times exit poll shows the rest of Leinster outside of Dublin voted 66pc to 34pc for 'Yes'.

Munster voted 66pc to 34pc in favour of repeal, and Connacht-Ulster voted 59pc to 41pc in favour of repeal.

The Connacht-Ulster poll forecast is important as these provinces were expected to deliver a strong vote in favour of retaining the Eighth Amendment, which hasn't been borne out in this exit poll.

The highest 'Yes' vote was in Dublin where some 77pc voted to repeal, according to the Irish Times.

Although Dublin was predicted to deliver a strong 'Yes', campaigners on the 'No' side believed the rural vote would favour them. However, 60pc of voters in rural Ireland voted to repeal.

Meanwhile, according to the RTE poll, in the urban areas, 72.3pc of people said 'Yes' to repealing the Eighth Amendment, while 63.3pc of people in rural areas voted to repeal.

Youth vote:

People in the 18 to 24 age group voted overwhelmingly in favour of repeal, with 87pc voting Yes, according to the Irish Times poll.

Finally, according to the poll, voters over the age of 65 voted to retain the Eighth Amendment.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Simon Harris said he will "sleep tonight in the hope of waking up to a country that is more compassionate, more caring and more respectful".

He wrote online; "It has been an honour to be on this journey with you and to work #togetherforyes. See you all tomorrow!"

As evidence of how this referendum has engaged the public, queues were reported at some polling stations before they opened at 7am on Friday morning.

Staff at polling stations around the country suggested that turnout was equal to or better than during the marriage equality referendum in 2015.

All the signals were that more than 60pc of voters – around 2 million people – made their way to the ballot box.

Online Editors