Almost two in three people in Ireland are unaware that it is a crime to have an abortion in Ireland if a woman's life is not at risk, a new poll has revealed.

According to the findings, just 9% of people know that a woman can be jailed for up to 14 years for having an unlawful abortion in this country.

The poll, which was carried out for Amnesty International, also found that 71% of people feel that classifying abortion as a crime contributes to the stigma and stress experienced by women who have had terminations.

Meanwhile, 65% of people feel that Ireland's current abortion laws contribute to women having unsafe abortions, while 68% believe that the current abortion ban does not stop most women who want an abortion from having one.

When asked if the Government should decriminalise abortion, 67% agreed, while 81% said they are in favour of widening the grounds for legal abortion access in Ireland.

"It is clear that Irish views on abortion have undergone a major transformation. People in Ireland are now, on the whole, more understanding of the situations women find themselves in and firmly believe that women should not be criminalised for having an abortion," commented Colm O'Gorman, executive director of Amnesty International Ireland.

He said that when it comes to this issue, the results show that Irish people ‘are clearly way ahead of their government leaders'.

"The conversation we urgently need in Ireland on abortion is a challenging one, but it must happen. The Irish Government should put this issue to the people as a matter of priority. Decriminalising abortion is not only a human rights obligation - it is what people in Ireland want. And this means repealing the 8th Amendment," Mr O'Gorman insisted.

He noted that just 7% of those polled were opposed to abortion in all circumstances. However even among these, just 31% agreed that a woman who has an unlawful abortion should face up to 14 years in jail.

The poll was conducted in May by Red C Research and Marketing. Over 1,000 people nationwide took part.

For more information on Amnesty, click here