Breda O'Brien
Katie Ascough Congratulations to Katie Ascough on becoming president of UCD’s student union. It is a great victory, not least because she made no secret of her pro-life views or that she is a person of faith.
It gives great hope to other students and young people in general, that Ireland does not always have to be a cold house for students who are Catholic, or pro-life, or both. (The two are not synonymous, despite media propaganda to the contrary.)
It is really important that there are young role models, especially since it requires courage to be one. It requires courage, despite the fact that most students are more animated by issues like not having enough mental health facilities, or even not having enough microwaves, than they are by the abortion issue.
That is not to say that young people are not pro-choice – many of them are. But they are pro-choice because everyone around them is pro-choice, not because they are militant single-issue campaigners.
And yet, since the 1980s onward, students’ unions have been much more aggressively pro-choice than the students whom they claim to represent.
It will be interesting to see how Katie manages to navigate being president of a students’ union when she fundamentally disagrees with one of its policies, that is, to repeal the Eighth Amendment.
Tolerance
It will be a test of the tolerance of the students’ union movement and will soon reveal whether it simply pays lip service to diversity and tolerance, or whether it is really in favour of free speech.
It is not just in universities that Catholics feel their society is a cold house. Across the professions, but particularly in medicine, the law and politics, it is astonishing how few are comfortable with admitting that they are practising Catholics, much less with taking stances on moral issues in public.
There are the few honourable exceptions, like Mattie McGrath TD, the late Peter Mathews and others who took a principled stand on abortion, like Lucinda Creighton, Terence Flanagan and Fidelma Healy Eames. The latter group were treated abominably by Fine Gael, including Peter Mathews.
Peter’s only fault was that he never used one word where 12 were available. He was described by all as a gentleman, which he truly was. Sadly, his gentlemanly ways were probably not an asset in politics.
He was also acknowledged as having a profound knowledge of banking, and yet once his views on abortion became known, he was treated like a pariah by many in his party and by the media in general.
The first time I met him was at the count where he was elected. He immediately came to commiserate with Eamon Ryan, whose seat he had taken. It was a generous act, one typical of the man.
He had a keen sense of social justice and was particularly outraged by ordinary people who were losing their homes due to the iniquity of what had happened in the banks.
He had a tremendous capacity for friendship and managed to cooperate with people who would occupy a very different part on the political spectrum.
In short, he had many qualities which should have ensured him a long career in politics but because he also had principles that he was not willing to compromise, and because ill-health intervened, that was not to be.
Why are there so few people willing to take public stands on issues of life and death like abortion?
In a country where the majority of people attended allegedly Catholic schools, why are so few willing to put their heads above the parapet?
It becomes a vicious cycle. Because so few are willing to put themselves forward, those who do receive a disproportionate amount of abuse, which in turn discourages others.
Those who work to encourage and support others also play an important role. Archbishop Charles Brown, who will soon no longer be Papal Nuncio in Ireland but will instead take up a new post in Albania, played a key role behind the scenes in encouraging a renewal of the Faith in Ireland.
He was willing to go beyond the confines of his role, and travelled the length and breadth of Ireland, encouraging, consoling, challenging.
It meant a great deal to me personally to know that someone I admired for his integrity, courage and decency was praying for me regularly, as I haltingly and stumblingly tried to bear witness to the importance of respect for life at all stages, whether that life be challenged by poverty, injustice, oppression, racism or simply not being recognised as a human being at all.
At this moment, many are encouraged by Katie Ascough’s courage and enthusiasm. It would be great if others could manage to find the courage to support and perhaps even join her.