THE Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, is to increase the number of people on the expert group which he appointed to advise the party on all aspects of abortion.
Senior Fianna Fail sources yesterday confirmed that two well-known anti-abortion campaigners, Dr Patricia Casey and Prof John Bonnar (not Ms Bernadette Bonner, as stated yesterday) are participating in the group. Three legal experts, one woman and two men, are also members.
The chairman of the Fianna Fail parliamentary party, Dr Rory O'Hanlon, said yesterday the group members were approached by Mr Ahern on the basis of their expertise in legal and medical areas.
According to Mr Noel Dempsey, the party's environment spokesman, "he did not ask them whether they were Catholic, Protestant, pro-life or pro-choice or anti-everything". They were chosen solely on the basis of their professional expertise and not because of their particular stance on the abortion issue, he added.
However, on Tuesday, the Fianna Fail spokesman on equality and law reform, Dr Jim McDaid, said that representatives from "both extremes" were involved in the expert group.
Mr Ahern told his parliamentary party colleagues earlier that the group - whose members he did not name - would continue its work of examining all aspects of abortion. They are to advise on party policy, as well as advise Fianna Fail in government, and will assist representatives on the All-Party Committee on the Constitution.
However, Fianna Fail sources emphasised that while the expert group can offer recommendations, the final decision on how abortion should be handled rests with the parliamentary party.
The leader's decision to expand the group is to ensure that a variety of "expertise and experience" is brought to bear on their deliberations, the sources said. Mr Ahern is also understood to want a "gender-balanced" group and is anxious to demonstrate that it is not seen as a body dominated by figures identified with the antiabortion cause.
It is still not known when the group will report back. Dr O'Hanlon said Mr Ahern had anticipated that abortion would arise as an issue again and, on that basis, he established a committee to deal with the legislative and constitutional questions surrounding it.