Ireland has profoundly changed its attitudes towards women, campaigners have said after a behavioural survey showed most voters made up their minds to repeal abortion laws years ago.

The details of an exit poll by the broadcaster RTE, released in full on Saturday morning, confounded all expectations with no urban-rural divide, little gender difference in voting and only one in 10 saying they had been influenced by posters or religion. The only age group to vote no were the over-65s.

Colm O’Gorman, the head of Amnesty International in Ireland, which campaigned for the yes vote, said, while the expectations had been that Saturday’s count would be close, attitude surveys it had conducted in 2015 had shown deep changes in thinking on abortion.

This was borne out by the RTE poll, which predicts a vote of 69.4% in favour of reform, with 30.6% against.

More than 75% said they had not changed their mind on abortion in the past five years, suggesting their support for reform far predated the announcement of a referendum two months ago.

Some 82% said they had not changed their mind on how they were going to vote during the campaign.

More than three-quarters said they were influenced by personal stories they heard in the media or by people they knew. Only 10% said they were influenced by the poster campaigns and only one in 10 cited religion as a motivating factor.

Some 8% said they were influenced by the death of Savita Halappanavar during complications in her pregnancy in Galway in 2015.

Predictions of a major urban-rural divide failed to materialise, with 63.1% of those in rural areas projected to have voted yes compared with 70% in Dublin.

Farmers, who were also expected to vote no, came out in favour, with 52.15% voting yes, according to the RTE exit poll.

Those who are projected to vote yes are:

Women – 72.1%



Men – 65.9%



Dublin – 70%



Rural – 63.1%



Farmers – 52.15%

The motivation for voting choice was also revealing:

Already knew how I would vote – 75%



Stories in the media – 43%



Campaign posters – 10%



Direct contact with campaigners – 7%



Over-65s – 41.3%



18- to 24-year-olds – 87.6%



35- to 49-year-olds – 72.%



50- to 64-year-olds – 63.75

Voters who had backed the no campaign were motivated largely by the desire to protect the life of the unborn (76%).

Ivana Bacik, a prominent campaigner for abortion reform in Ireland, told RTE: “I’m overwhelmed by the exit poll. For those of us who have campaigned for many years on this issue, it’s an incredible day to see people have voted in support of women’s rights.

“What changed people’s opinions is that, for many years, we’ve all become aware of the immense harm the eighth amendment has caused over the years.”

