THE ANTI-ABORTION group Youth Defence says it plans to stage a €60,000 advertising and information campaign opposing embryonic stem-cell research at University College Cork (UCC).
“We have already got a great response from students and alumni of UCC,” said Eoghan de Faoite of Youth Defence.
“Some alumni have even offered to hand back their degrees to the university in protest.’’
Last November, UCC became the first third-level institution in the Republic to effectively allow embryonic stem-cell research when members of the 40-strong governing body voted by 16 votes to 15 to endorse a code of practice recommended by the university’s academic council.
A spokesman for UCC declined to comment on the Youth Defence campaign last night.The campaign is to focus on Cork and the greater Munster area and is to feature 64 billboards as its centrepiece.
