Renua goes on the road to state their case for future
Dear Sir,
Renua wishes to thank all those who attended our recent meeting in Dundalk, the 7th tour stop on our current ‘ The Citizens’ Assembly - What Next’? tour.
The meeting, which aimed to both educate people about abortion and to highlight the personal stories of those who have been impacted by that law, was a great success, with over 40 people in attendance.
Alan Daveron took the crowd through the realities of the current abortion law in Ireland, the protections on the mother’s life that the 8th enshrines, and the slapdash nature of the citizens’ assembly, with its ill-conceived recommendations and absolute lack of rigor or detail. As Mr Daveron said at the event ‘ these were not experts by any stretch of the imagination, I have spent years of my life coming to understand the ethical, moral and legal issues surrounding this issue, and to say that a non-representative group of not even 100 people could understand this fully having spent a couple of weekends considering it, is offensive and obscene’.
Niamh Ui Bhriain brought a more personal touch to affairs, highlighting the personal stories of those impacted upon by the 8th, and excoriating the Government for its continual failure to increase the level of support available to those suffering from difficult pregnancies and to those whose children may need additional support due to disability or illness.
Michael O’Dowd, the local area representative of the region, spoke of the difficulties he has with abortion, particularly as the father of a son, Conor, with Down Syndrome, and how that has driven him to work to both safeguard the rights to life of those like his son, through protecting the 8th, and to push for Ireland to become the best country in the world for those with disabilities, an area the current Government has consistently failed to consider a priority.
It was great to see so many people willing to come out and make the trek to the meeting, it’s never easy to get the public to come to any meeting, let alone one of a topic like this, but this is an issue close to my heart, and it was wonderful to see so many people willing to stand up and fight for the rights of those who can’t speak up for themselves.
We are certain that those who attended the meeting left both more educated on the issue, on the strength of the pro-life argument and, hopefully, with a renewed belief that the introduction of abortion is not inevitable, that it can be stopped should we the people stand up and fight for it.
Renua.