Irish comedians abroad call for Yes vote in abortion referendum

Irish comedians living abroad have released a video calling for a Yes vote in Friday's referendum on whether to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.

Aisling Bea and Sharon Horgan lead the charge in Irish Comedians Abroad: Be Our Yes, which also features Ed Byrne, Jarlath Regan, Chris O'Dowd and the Father Ted creator Graham Linehan.

The comedians can no longer vote in the referendum, which will decide whether to liberalise Ireland’s abortion laws, as they have been living outside Ireland for more than 18 months.

The Canadian-Irish comedian Katherine Ryan and the London-Irish comedians Jimmy Carr and Róisín Conaty also appear.

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Gráinne Maguire, who live-tweeted the former taoiseach Enda Kenny with jokes about her menstrual cycle, says in the video that she “never really believed that Irish women could be trusted with their bodies, because I remember how crazy we went for line-dancing in the 90s”.

In her call for a Yes vote Aisling Bea says: “When you vote you get that same mad buzz as you do with confession – but without the added shame. Please let Waterford Crystal and Tayto be Ireland’s biggest export, not women.”

Graham Linehan, who has previously spoken about his wife having an abortion because of a fatal foetal abnormality, tells viewers: “Obviously on Friday we have a big day coming up. I hope that you’ll go out there and vote Yes, because we need to help our women. We can’t let them be alone in their experiences.”

The video has had more than 9,000 views since it was uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday afternoon.