11:46

The leader of Ireland’s main Irish opposition party, Fianna Fail, has insisted his anti-abortion parliamentarians will “not stand in the way of the will of the Irish people” and block legislation leading to abortion up to 12 weeks.

Micheal Martin gambled with his leadership by coming out in favour of a yes vote even though 32 of his Dail deputies were on the no side in the campaign. The RTÉ exit poll breakdown of political parties’ attitudes to the referendum also found that a small majority of Fianna Fail voters, 50.3%, backed the no camp in Friday’s poll.

But speaking his native Cork City on Saturday morning, Martin said he believed that members of the Dail would have to “honour the will of the people” and allow for the passage of the government’s planned legislation.

Martin said it was now clear from the two exit polls that Ireland had “emphatically passed” the referendum and that his party should back the Fine Gael-led government to legalise abortion.