No side taken aback by landslide
THE count centre for the Referendum on the Eighth Amendment in the Redeemer Community Centre must have been a lonely place for those who had wanted the amendment which gave equal rights to the unborn child and pregnant women.
They were taken aback by the seismic shift in the attitudes of the Irish people who have after months of often bitter campaigning showed that they wanted to bring Irish laws into line with the rest of the modern world and that women would no longer be denied the choice to have an abortion.
Fine Gael’s Peter Fitzpatrick, who had been a member of the Oireachtas Committee which had recommended holding the referendum, and had gone against the views of the party leader in campaigning for a No vote, admitted that he hadn’t expect such a landslide in favour of repeal.
‘I thought it would be an awful lot closer,’ he said. ‘I thought we would be very close to a No vote. The people of Ireland have spoken, we have to respect the people of Ireland.”
‘Leo and Simon have given a commitment there will be no such thing as abortion on demand, I will be there to make sure that does not happen. I do trust women and I do believe in life and I voted No to protect the unborn.’
Dundalk man Martin McGuill of the Save the 8th campaign, admitted that he was ‘ devastated’ at the outcome.
‘It’s a very, very sad day for the country. I feel like a stranger in my own country.’
He said that ‘Every pre born child is going to under a death sentence until they are considered viable by the government.’
‘Irish people were given a choice to choose what type of society they want to live in, one where the strong can sacrifice the weak or one where the strong can make sacrifices for the weak. The people have spoken Ireland will be a sadder place as a result.’
He was surprised at the outcome saying: ‘From knocking the doors, we came across more No votes. ‘ He was surprised at the extent of the Yes vote. ‘I would have thought that in Dundalk, the No vote would win from the people we talked to.’
Another man from Save the 8th, Stephen McKenna, described it as a sad day. ‘I’m here for humanity to keep babies alive.
The Genie is out of the box and babies will be aborted. Ireland could do better in a more pioneering way for women with crisis pregnancies.’