Updated at 9.45pm

FUNDRAISING FOR THE Eighth Amendment referendum campaigns from both the Yes and No side of the debate has taken centre stage this week.

A referendum on repealing the Eighth Amendment, which gives equal constitutional status to the mother and the unborn, will be held on Friday 25 May.

Together For Yes, the national campaign to remove the Eighth Amendment, launched a crowdfund at 8.30am this morning, aiming to raise a total of €50,000 in seven days to pay for 5,000 Yes posters.

The campaign has said the target was met in just over two hours. Another target of €150,000 was set and met later today.

As of 9.30pm this evening, over €262,000 had been raised by over 7,000 donors.

Together For Yes has now increased its crowdfunding target to €400,000 to fund 40,000 Yes posters.

Denise Charlton, head of fundraising for Together For Yes said that the team has been “completely overwhelmed by the response” from donors this morning.

“It’s indicative of the groundswell of support Together For Yes has the length and breadth of Ireland, and we couldn’t be more grateful for the generosity of support out there,” Charlton said.

Meanwhile, Save the 8th, a campaign to retain the Eighth Amendment, has been raising funding for its campaign for a number of months.

Speaking at a Save the 8th press conference with Dr Eamon McGuinness, campaign spokesperson John McGuirk said that they have exceeded their target of €400,000.

“We’ve gone past our target, our target was €400,000, we’ve reached that,” McGuirk said.

“We are optimistic that the final fundraising will probably be close to or slightly above €500,000. I think Together For Yes said yesterday they’d raise €170,000 in three or four weeks, we’ve raised over €400,000 since January,” he said.

Reaction to the fundraising

Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Josepha Madigan, who is leading Fine Gael’s campaign to repeal the Eighth Amendment, was asked by reporters today if she is worried that the Save the 8th Campaign may have stolen the lead on the repeal campaign.

She said she didn’t accept that the No campaign was leading the way.

“In fact, I think the Yes campaign is just gaining momentum now. We’re still a good few weeks away. I’ve just been appointed about 10 days ago, I’ve had a lot of meetings,” Madigan said.

“There has been a huge swell of support, we’re putting that plan into action and I really think there’s going to be a lot of momentum,” she said.

Madigan was speaking an event which outlined the government’s 10-year plan on investment in Ireland’s culture, language and heritage.

She was chosen last week by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to lead the party’s Yes campaign.

Varadkar said Madigan “will work with Health Minister Simon Harris, other Fine Gael representatives and with Together For Yes to advocate for a Yes vote and ensure that Irish people have the facts and can make an informed and compassionate decision at the end of May”.