Thousands of people took part in last Saturday’s Rally for Life which sought to hold the government to account for the spiralling abortion rate.

The event took off from Parnell Square at 1.30 pm as the diverse crowd chanted ‘pro-life’, and waved posters and flags saying ‘Life Will Win’ and ‘Stop Aborting Our Future’.

Scrapping the 3-day wait would be seen as a reneging on promises to voters in the 2018 referendum, and a summer campaign to remind voters of that promise would be ramped up, attendees at the Rally were told.

Earlier, the Life Institute said that the pro-life gathering took place in the context of what was described as a “steep and disturbing” rise in the number of abortions taking place in Ireland, and just weeks after a bill seeking to legalise abortion on request to 6 months of pregnancy unexpectedly passed second stage in the Dáil.