Under bruised grey skies and lingering sheets of drizzle, two very different conversations are underway as you criss-cross Ireland in the countdown to the country’s abortion referendum on Friday. From the hills of Wicklow, speckled with crusts of burnt yellow gorse, to the bleached brown boglands of the Midlands, from the bustling commuter arteries around Dublin and Cork to the manicured agricultural land of Tipperary and Kilkenny, the approach to every village and town is the same: rows of competing posters wrapped around electricity poles like multicoloured tower blocks.

“12 weeks with no restrictions. Vote No”; “In England, 1 in 5 babies are aborted. Vote No” is the message from the Love Both campaign leading the opposition to abortion. “Yes for Dignity, Yes for Compassion, Vote Yes”; “Sometimes a Private Matter needs Public Support. Vote Yes” urges the Together For Yes movement, which wants the law changed.