Irish men are sharing their support for the repeal of the eighth amendment using the #men4yes hashtag.

Sportsmen and broadcasters launched the campaign earlier today to encourage men to vote yes in the upcoming abortion referendum. Footballer Richie Sadlier, rugby player Gordon D’Arcy, and others have voiced their support for repeal, saying that the 8th amendment is an issue affecting men too. The eighth amendment makes abortion illegal in Ireland except in very limiting circumstances. Sadlier said that if men want to live in a "compassionate" society, they should vote yes. On Twitter he wrote:

"If men have a view that the society we live in should be compassionate, safe and caring for women in very vulnerable crisis situations, then they must get involved and vote yes."

https://twitter.com/RichieSadlier/status/988708739699134466 D'Arcy echoed this statement, writing that women should be able to "... get the care they need, and make the decisions they need to make." https://twitter.com/Gordonwdarcy/status/988707174670094337 The hashtag soon gained traction online with many other Irish men joining in and sharing their reasons for voting yes. They included Senator Aodhán O Ríordáin, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, the Rubber Bandits, and many more. https://twitter.com/Rubberbandits/status/988736178579963906 https://twitter.com/AodhanORiordain/status/988730604840783872 https://twitter.com/campaignforleo/status/988744931501133825 https://twitter.com/alan_maguire/status/988721505004670976 https://twitter.com/JJ5000/status/988717064142704640 https://twitter.com/EamonMcGee/status/988747223121977345 At the time of writing, #men4yes was the top trending topic in Ireland. The referendum takes place next month on May 25.