The People’s Letters Page

Here is this week’s People’s Letters Page…

Dear Editor,

On the third anniversary of the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment, it is sad to learn that hundreds of Irish people are still forced to leave these shores in shame and secrecy to seek abortions abroad. It is likely these people are our most vulnerable; young people, Mincéirí, disabled people, migrants, trans people and victims of abuse.

Sad, but to abortion rights campaigners who pointed out the shortcomings in the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, not surprising.

It is sad, but not surprising, to see that training and facilities are still so inadequate that only half of our maternity hospitals provide this service and that some counties have no providers at all. It is sad, but not surprising, to see that the threat of a 14-year jail sentence still hangs over the head of any provider who misinterprets the legislation or who provides an abortion a single day over the 12-week cut-off point.

It is sad, but not surprising, to see that promised legislation on safe access zones has not materialised, meaning abortion providers and patients alike must run the gauntlet of ghoulish, intimidating protests outside hospitals and GPs’ surgeries, and that rogue pregnancy agencies continue to manipulate and misinform vulnerable pregnant people.

It is sad, but not surprising, that the three-day waiting period remains in place as if there weren’t already enough barriers in place to receiving an abortion in this country, and as if pregnant people are flighty, irresponsible waifs who don’t know their own minds. Didn’t we consign that kind of thinking to the dustbin of history on May 25, 2018?

Fortunately, this fudged, flawed legislation is up for review this year. Sadly, and unsurprisingly, anti-choice activists are seeking changes that will force hundreds, or even thousands, more people to seek abortions abroad in shame and secrecy. We urge our politicians to resist a step backwards towards the dark old days, and instead to fix the flaws in the legislation so that abortion is fully accessible to all.

Yours sincerely,

Doris Murphy, Co-convenor, Rebels4Choice

A Chara,

Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council officials have once again proposed to ban busses and cars from part of Lower George’s Street, Dún Laoghaire (the town’s main street)

They did this previously, circa 10 years ago, and eventually had to agree to lifting the ban, because:

*Shoppers had to walk relatively long distances to get a bus home (carrying their purchases) mainly through Marine Road, which is usually quiet cold -even in summer time- as it fronts onto the sea.

*Motorists voted with their wheels and drove to shopping areas where they were welcomed – often with free parking. *As a result business in Dún Laoghaire was very badly damaged resulting in shop closures and job losses in all parts of the town.

The elected representatives on DLR County Council appear not to have been consulted prior to this latest decision. This time the County Council officials have offered public consultation which is in sharp contrast with their banning of vehicles on “a trail basis” from the seafront at the beginning of the current lockdowns. That “trial period” is now up but the ban has not been lifted.

The proposed ban on the main street is also in the name of a trail period. As a result of the seafront ban “long tail backs” is now common place in the streets throughout the town and on the Tivoli (town by-pass) Road. Any further street closures will add to this problem especially as traffic increases as the national emergency ends.  When the last time the County Council banned cars and busses from the same part of the main street, their decision was opposed by DUBLIN BUS and the local Dún Laoghaire Business Association and local Residents’ Associations It remains to be seen who really runs our County Council – the elected representatives or the paid officials.

Is mise,

Breasal Ó Caollaí

Dún Laoghaire.

Dear Editor,

A new law to be enacted by the UK government will formally recognize animals as sentient beings and ensure that animal welfare will receive priority in all policy decision-making. We in Ireland could do well to emulate this move, given our high incidence of animal cruelty and the antiquated laws we have to deal with it. The UK law will clamp down further on hare coursing, which was banned by a Labour government in 2004. Not only is this vile practice legal in Ireland: It has the backing of government ministers and the two largest parties refuse to allow a free vote on its proposed abolition.

They are determined to block Deputy Paul Murphy’s upcoming Private Members Bill that seeks to end the practice whereby hares are snatched from the countryside, held in unnatural captivity, and then used as live bait.  In Britain the police pursue hare coursing gangs vigorously. Here, the only police present at a coursing event are the ones directing traffic at the entrance.

Yes, we have a Green Party in government that has excellent policies on animal welfare. But it lacks the power to implement them. Such are the constraints imposed on it by its coalition partners that it appears set to oppose the Murphy Bill.

Comhaontas Glas may soon become the first Green Party in the world to support hare coursing in a parliamentary vote. A sickening thought for those of us who voted Green to give a voice to the voiceless. Animal welfare groups have been campaigning since the mid-1960s for a ban on hare coursing and yet the cruelty continues while politicians either condone it or choose to ignore the issue. We may be a long way from recognizing animals in law as sentient beings, but we can at least protect the gentlest creature in the Irish countryside from this pathetic excuse for a “sport.”

Thanking you,

Sincerely

John Fitzgerald

Dear Editor

Over 70 representatives from the Irish language community broadcast a collective message to the northern Executive and to the British and Irish Governments at Stormont on Tuesday May 25 calling for language rights as promised in previous agreements.

The Dream Dearg community message called for the following action:

“The Good Friday Agreement was to herald a new era of equality regarding the Irish language. Next, the St Andrew’s Agreement committed parties and Governments to an Irish language act.

“In recent years, the Irish language community has shone a light on the age old and ongoing exclusion and marginalisation of our community, The consistent failure to ensure rights-based language legislation for our community is fully at odds with all of our main political agreements. We have consistently stood against those who would continue to marginalise, exclude and ignore our legitimate demands for rights and respect.”

“Last year, the Executive was re-established on the basis of the New Decade New Approach Agreement. We said then, as we say now, that the NDNA language legislation falls well short of what we expect or what we were promised, but that it was an important staging post in our on-going journey towards comprehensive, rights-based language legislation.”

“Now, 500 days have passed since that legislation was promised, and still we wait. A majority of parties and MLAs support a rights-based Irish-language Act, as well as the language legislation agreed last year. Today, we say to those who continue to exclude our community that we stand united for our language rights; to those parties who support our campaign, we ask you again; stand with us, stand up for our rights; to the 2 Governments – you are not neutral, you are not external mediators, you are co-authors and co-guarantors of these agreements.”

“No more delays, no more excuses. It is time to implement Irish language legislation!”

An Dream Dearg spokespersons Padraig O Tiarnaigh and Conchur O Muadaigh.