‘Deleting amendment won’t solve abortion row’

FORMER finance minister Michael Noonan has warned the Fine Gael parliamentary party that a simple deletion of the Eighth Amendment may not resolve the abortion issue.

In a rare intervention, Mr Noonan told ‘ashen-faced’ party ministers and TDs that removing the 1983 amendment could have serious implications on issues such as the right of a woman to have an abortion on the grounds of suicide ideation.

One source told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘Mr Noonan’s warning was based on legal advice received prior to the 1983 referendum.’

He noted that the ‘right to life’ already existed in the Irish Constitution. Party sources warned that legislation formulated after any repeal of the Eighth Amendment, for instance to allow for terminations due to fatal foetal abnormality, ‘may be vulnerable to a [legal] challenge’.

Mr Noonan urged Catherine Noone, who chairs the Oireachtas Committee on Abortion, to draw on the best available legal advice, said a source, ‘to tease out this issue before bringing any recommendations to the Dáil’.

Another source said: ‘He cautioned the party to make sure the mistakes of the past were not repeated and to get legal advice to ensure the current referendum does not unravel in the way the Eighth Amendment did.’

A senior Government spokesman said: ‘This is a complex matter but the Government is determined to make progress.’