Groups campaigning against the referendum expressed joy and relief that it had been voted down. Ms Sinéad Kennedy of the Alliance for a No vote said it was a victory for women on the eve of International Women's Day.
She was delighted a "very anti-woman piece of legislation" had been rejected.
"It is the second time that there has been a No vote for legalised abortion here in Ireland so I would put it to Fianna Fáil to immediately legislate on the basis of the Supreme Court decision in the X case. They have been told twice this is what the electorate want." She added that the result was "overwhelmingly a pro-choice victory". Mr Tony O'Brien, chief executive of the Irish Family Planning Association, said he was very relieved.
"A different result would have been a disaster. It would have set off a ticking bomb in which we would at some stage have seen another X case or C case and nobody in this country really wanted to see that," he said.
He said the level of turnout and the way the vote broke down proved there was never a public appetite for the referendum.
"It's a great shame that the country has been put through this, really for no gain whatsoever."