NewPro-Choice groupinDrogheda
A local branch of the pro-choice group Rosa has been set up in Drogheda and will hold their next event in Sarsfields on Wednesday.
The group was set up by local women Una Reynolds and Claire Maher to provide information and support in the local area. Both women work fulltime and run the group on a voluntary basis.
The newly formed group hold meetings every second Thursday and also man a stall at the weekends in the town centre.
‘Drogheda is the largest town in Ireland, and we found that it was lacking an active pro-choice group or forum,’ explained Una. ‘We have received overwhelming support from local residents, with over 200 signing our petition to local TDs so far.’
The group held their first big event in mid July in Sarsfields, and sajd they were delighted with the attendance and support of local Dorgheda residents.
The night involved a discussion, a performance from local band GRAND and a raffle that include prizes of a REPEAL jumper and a flight to England (in voucher form). Their next event will take place in Sarsfields on Wednesday, August 30th where two groups of local DKIT film students will show the documentaries they have made on abortion rights in Ireland.
‘ The way it started off was myself and Claire were part of the main ROSA group in Dublin on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of International Women’s Day,’ explained Una. ‘ We were part of the bus tour around Dublin handing out information leaflets and there was a woman from Women on Web on the bus so it was really all about raising awareness and providing information for women.’
‘It was so intense over the three days, we learned so much and became way more knowledgeable and we realised then that there was no active group in Drogheda that we could become part of. So we decided to set up our own group in Drogheda.
‘Essentially we just wanted people in Drogheda to know what we know and to spread awareness. So we spoke to the Dublin girls and they said yes we’d love for you to start a group in Drogheda so that’s just how it started.’
She said the catalyst for this was hearing people’s stories and realising that one in ten to fifteen Irish women will have an abortion in their lifetime.
‘But there’s so much shame and stima around it, people find they can’t talk about it. We really wanted people to know about Women on Web because we didn’t know anything about it before.
‘I guess we also just want to be a source of factual information for people if they have questions or weren’t sure of things that they have somewhere they can come and ask questions and get information. we are just essentially trying to start the conversation because there wasn’t one before.’
For more information see the Rosa Facebook page or visit www.rosa.ie