I welcome the result of the referendum last Friday. It was an incredible result. The people of Ireland have spoken and it is important that we listen. For the women of Ireland it means a sense of freedom and that is really important. I commend my colleague, Senator Bacik, on the great work she has done, along with Deputies Clare Daly and Zappone and the many other women and men who have fought hard for this.

I also wish to mention the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and the great work he did on this issue and his passion. The leaders of the three major parties have been phenomenal on this issue. There was Deputy McDonald's conviction and commitment. In addition, Deputy Micheál Martin and Senator Ned O'Sullivan changed their thinking. To go from a "No" vote to a "Yes" vote takes great courage and I commend them for that.

I also pay tribute to the thousands of volunteers who worked tirelessly for the campaign. In my own office I saw the work Conor O'Neill, who works with me, his girlfriend and his group of friends, all of them very young, did on the referendum. Their passion and commitment were really contagious. I pay tribute to all of them.

Finally, I wish to offer condolences to the families of Jastine Valdez, Anastasia Kriegel and Cameron Reilly who lost their loved ones in the last few weeks in horrendous atrocities and killings. My heart goes out to all of the families. I am aware that the Valdez and Hennessy families met last Friday. I thought that was beautiful because I have no doubt that the Hennessy family are as devastated, as are the family of the 13 year old who was arrested. I cannot imagine what must be happening to them all. I offer my condolences to all of the families.

I wish to reflect on the momentous day we had last Friday and on the turnout. In 1983, 53% of the electorate turned out to vote "Yes".

A total of 1,257,369 people turned out to vote, 66% of whom voted to insert the eighth amendment into our Constitution. On Friday last, 2,159,655 people turned out to vote, which is a turnout of 64%, and 66% of them voted to take the same amendment back out of the Constitution. It was the third highest turnout in a referendum in Ireland after the votes on membership of the EEC in 1974 and on the right to travel, to information and on the risk to life in 1992. It was a momentous day. I felt somewhat injured by Senator Feighan when he said that I should not be celebrating. I am not triumphalist but I know what it was like in 1983. I spoke to women in their 80s on doorsteps -----

I know what it was like in 1983 too.

I know about the indoctrination that we all felt. Those women quietly said that they would be voting "Yes" but asked us not to tell the neighbours. That is what happened in this revolution. The result on Saturday was for the women of Ireland and we are not going back.

I also want to raise two matters which I ask the Leader to address. The first concerns the 135,000 people, mostly young women, who were on the supplementary register. Electoral reform is required because their names will now be deleted. That means that 135,000 people will be taken off the register of electors, which seems illogical. It also means that we are constantly trying to catch up with ourselves in terms of keeping the register up to date. If those people were accepted onto the supplementary register, surely they should stay on it.

The second issue I wish to raise concerns the Minister for Health. While we await the Bill to give effect to the referendum result, will the Minister urge the Health Products Regulatory Authority, HPRA, to authorise medicines for termination as soon as possible? Research is readily available on these pills which are being taken by women here anyway. We need them to be licensed by the HPRA without delay.

I am not the only person in this Chamber to have been saddened by the result of this referendum. I must say, on behalf of the one third of the voting population who voted "No" on Friday, that I am very sorry for all of those children who will lose their lives in the future as a result of this decision and for the many women who will be hurt by the decision to have an abortion, as often happens.

I too wondered at the tones of triumph, the cheering and the hoopla but I was more taken over the last few days by the attitude of some gentle friends of mine who found themselves bewildered by that. One could not think of an occasion in the western world where there was such cheering about a decision that was so directly related to a decision to end the lives of other human beings. Those peoples' opinions, their hurt and their sense of bewilderment matter and need to be spoken for and to.

I want to thank the many people who campaigned on the "No" side with dignity and who have a lot more work to do in the future. Now they have to do the very same work that they would have been doing anyway, but without the support of the law, which is to try to persuade each new generation that there is a better, more life-giving and humane choice than abortion.

Much has been made about the debates and whether they would be divisive. When it comes to life and death decisions, there will be times when debates are divisive. I know that many people voted "Yes" on Friday because they accepted the emotional power of arguments for abortion in particular tragic circumstances. I never disputed how people could understand that perspective, even if my perspective is different. However, I regret that there were also arguments made, some from those in high places, about the compromising of women's health if we did not change our law or the prosecution of women, even though that has never happened in this country. Such arguments really spoke to fear, were not grounded in reality and were all about getting a result over the line.

I regret that there was too little time, public space and open debate in our forum to seek to prove some of those arguments untrue.

The margin was decisive, but when one in three people continues to believe that abortion is profoundly wrong, not necessarily for religious reasons but because it offends and denies human dignity and rejects the literally tiny minority, is something more than a majoritarian impulse that insists that every legislator must be on board not required? People have given politicians a free hand to decide on this issue, and I believe that in a healthy democracy we should wonder why one third of the membership of these Houses is not regretting the vote last Friday. If one third does not oppose legislation that would deprive a minority of life, does that not show that the democratic deficit remains on the "No" side?

I appeal to the majority, which now has a free hand, to exercise that hand with caution, care and thoughtfulness, rather than rushing. I ask it to consider the position of people working in healthcare who feel they should not be forced into having any hand, act or part in something they believe is nothing to do with healthcare. Calling it obstruction because they do not want to refer a person to someone who will do something they believe is unjust lacks tolerance. There is still time to consider whether we should support everything the Government is proposing, particularly in the area of late term abortions. We now have the power to do something, but we should ask ourselves whether we ought to do it.

The weekend was momentous. I thank the women who told their personal stories. Many of us understand the harm and hurt that comes with that. Others will say it is cathartic, and perhaps that is the case, but only when the result was positive. For Parliaments elsewhere in the world, such as Australia or the North, where these decisions can be made, politicians owe us political will. I thank the Irish people, who made such a strong and decisive decision after what Ailbhe Smyth described as one of the most lengthy national conversations about any law. I also thank the activists who made it all happen. I was glad that Fintan O'Toole mentioned our young people and recognised their efforts. How often do young people have to smash the redundant stereotypes? How long before this Parliament recognises that and allows their political participation from a younger age?

On Sunday morning, I visited the National Print Museum and an exhibition entitled, Print, Protest and the Polls: The Irish Women's Suffrage Campaign and the Power of Print Media. There should have been crowds at the event and it should be a permanent exhibition. One quote, from Margaret Connery, who wrote an article entitled, The New Force in Irish Politics, in The Irish Citizen in August 1918, stood out:

If the new woman voter in Ireland has the courage and independence to set a new standard I believe the men of the new generation would try hard to live up to it. Irish women have a long-inherited passion for national liberty. They will ring true on that issue. May they be equally true and uncompromising on the deep human issues.

I join Senators Gavan and Bacik in calling for legislation as soon as possible to ensure referrals can be made to Britain and to remove criminal sanctions from the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013. I have also written to the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, asking that he ensures gender neutral language is included in the legislation in recognition of the fact that trans people face crisis pregnancies.

We finally live in a time when the position of everybody is respected. Our job, as we make advances, is to reach out our hand to our brothers and sisters in the North and elsewhere