The Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath and Kildare, Most Rev Richard Clarke, is the latest bishop of that church to say he will be voting No on March 6th.
He also said that although the Church of Ireland deputation to the Oireachtas All-Party Committee on the Constitution had made the church's position on abortion clear "not for the first time, our views have been set aside".
Dean Robert MacCarthy of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin is also opposed to dealing with abortion by constitutional means. He described the proposals as "a dangerous mixing of the Constitution and legislation" and said "in any case both will be open to interpretation by the Supreme Court". It was not possible to amend the Constitution in a manner which fixed in concrete future interpretations which may be made by the Supreme Court, he said.
"So if we don't want one of the more liberal abortion laws in Europe, let's legislate to change it [the Constitution\] bearing in mind that we may very well need to legislate again if the Supreme Court doesn't take the view that the majority of the legislature takes of the matter."
