There were tense scenes as pro and anti-abortion protesters faced each other in Dublin when they met at separate rallies.
A brass band accompanied more than 5,000 people on the anti-abortion march as they set off from Parnell Square with demonstrators carrying "vote pro-life." placards.
The march, held on Saturday afternoon, was met by hundreds of pro-choice campaigners who waved signs reading "think outside my box" and "no equality before body autonomy"
Anti-abortion organisers said the theme and aim of this year's march, titled 'Rally for Life', was to speak up for babies with a disability and was organised by Youth Defence, the Life Institute, and Precious Youth.
The counter demonstration, ‘Rally for Choice’, was held simultaneously at the Spire on O'Connell Street and was made up of several hundred protesters.
At one point thousands of the anti-abortion demonstrators walked past the pro-choice rally in front of the GPO on O’Connell Street in the city centre.
While demonstrators shouted at each other and voiced their respective slogans, the atmosphere was tense but was without major incident.
In a statement following the rally, Amnesty Ireland sought to clarify its stance on the issue saying it was not calling for abortion in Ireland on disability specific grounds.
The organisation claims women are entitled to abortion under international human rights law if a foetus has a severe or fatal impairment, and that must be decided on a case-by-case basis.
The statement added: “These decisions and the decision to have an abortion should be left to women and their doctors.”
