Dear Editor, I was relieved to read in last week’s The Irish Catholic of the strong pro-life presence Fianna Fáil will be bringing to the new Dail.
For years now, people who hold pro-life views have been neglected by politicians, even those in Fine Gael who actively courted our vote in the previous election and then changed their tune in 2013 when the party unfairly imposed the whip on them.
In the face of certain factions in society demanding a referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment, which is a vital protection for the unborn outlined in the Constitution, it is now more important than ever to have politicians who represent our views in positions of power.
Fianna Fáil and other politicians who support the Eighth Amendment need to be brave in the face of horrid online abuse against them for their stance. They need to be unequivocal in voicing that their stance means protecting unborn babies whose lives will be put at risk if the Eighth Amendment is repealed.
I was also pleased to read that of the 181 candidates who told pro-abortion groups that they favour the repeal of the Eighth Amendment, 80% failed to be elected.
That was some consolation for my disappointment over brave politicians such as Lucinda Creighton, Billy Timmons, Terence Flanagan and others who defied Fine Gael in voting against the ironically named Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill in 2013 not retaining their seats as they had deserved.
We now need Fianna Fáil TDs and others to pick up where they left off.
Yours etc.,
Mary Tierney,
Swords,
Co. Dublin.