Pro-choice campaign out to raise €500k war chest

PRO-CHOICE campaigners aim to raise a €500,000 war chest to fund their abortion referendum campaign, with fundraising and donations from Irish citizens abroad forming part of their plans.

The Together For Yes campaign was launched yesterday and speakers at the event in Dublin’s Rotunda Foundation included retired Supreme Court Justice Catherine McGuinness and Dr Peter Boylan.

And a spokeswoman confirmed after the campaign launch that they plan to fund their campaign through donations and fundraisers, both on our shores and abroad, with a target of €500,000. ‘We will be raising money here in Ireland and in the usual way. We expect there will be a lot of small donations, we’ve already had indications it [will go] very well.

The Together For Yes Campaign is being supported by a number of groups, including Women’s Aid and the Union of Students in Ireland’.

Meanwhile, a group of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals who oppose repealing the Eighth believe they will become the majority in their field as the campaign progresses. The Medical Alliance For The 8th say their colleagues around the country will come out ‘and stand united’ on this issue.

Yesterday, a member refused to reveal how many were in the group, saying it had ‘just started up’ but said, ‘here is much concern on the ground within our professions’.

Group member Dr Siobhán Crowley, a GP from Kerry, said: ‘This proposal... is really not about healthcare and I believe healthcare professionals will come out and stand united on that point.’