Sir, – Dermot Shankey ( January 8th) says, “We the people elect deputies to the Dáil to formulate legislation for us and no other body in the country has any right to try to interfere with that legislation.” Would that it were so!
Could we be assured therefore that Ibec, Ictu, the IFA, and so on, will all be kept away from the door? I doubt it. Not alone is lobbying a part of our democratic system (uncontrolled, in the case of Ireland) but for all its faults, it also ensures that those who speak for the poor and disadvantaged, such as the Society of St Vincent de Paul, Social Justice Ireland, and many other groups, can have access to the members of our Oireachtas so that they can be informed of the wishes of those who elected them.
I have no problem with any church or religious body expressing its views, whether Christian, Islamic, Jewish any other faith grouping. Tolerance requires us to allow those voices, even if we disagree with their position.
If the issue is democracy, then it demands that we seek the inclusion of all perspectives, and I believe that both our parliamentarians and the electorate are more than mature enough to handle this. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Today the Catholic bishops are to give evidence in Leinster House before the Oireachtas Committee on abortion. At least this represents some kind of democratic progress since the days some 60 years ago when government ministers were imperiously summoned to the Irish Canossa, the archbishop’s “palace” in Drumcondra.
Bunreacht na hÉireann (article 40.3.3) already guarantees Irish women’s right to abortion,albeit outsourced to the neighbouring jurisdiction. This means that, from the bishops’ perspective, the Constitution underwrites “the culture of death” they so much dread. Will the committee have the gumption to ask the bishops to defend their Nimby hypocrisy? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Dermot Shankey (January 8th) notes that “we elect deputies to formulate legislation and no other body in the country has any right to try to interfere with that legislation”. To begin with, it is difficult to interfere with legislation which does not as yet exist. Mr Shankey must be absolutely dismayed now that an Oireachtas committee has begun three days of hearings from more than 40 witnesses and 20 groups including medical and legal experts, the churches, civil and society bodies as well as pro-choice and anti-abortion groups. It seems odd that Mr Shankey picks out the clergy alone from all the groups. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – It’s sad to see that the heated debate over the hugely divisive issue of abortion has exposed a gaping hole in the general understanding of another issue that provokes much debate and reflection in Ireland: suicide. Much of the comment from the anti-abortion lobby on the issue of suicide being grounds for abortion (as per the X case ruling) seems to show a poor understanding of the nature of suicide and of those who suffer from suicidal thoughts.
People who are suicidal are vulnerable, yes, and no doubt overwhelmed. It is even arguable that their judgment is not what it is when they are not at risk and fully well. But they are not stupid; being suicidal does not mean that all reason and intelligence fly out the window. Women who express suicidal thoughts, however briefly, at the prospect of having a baby may feel, at that moment, that they have lost sight of a way forward, but they have not lost all their faculties. They don’t need pity; they need respect, compassion, and time, space and support to make an informed decision, whatever that may be. This holds whether you or pro-choice or anti-abortion. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I find Stephen Collins’s argument (“Church’s abortion broadside a challenge to democracy”, Opinion Analysis, January 5th) extraordinary.
The real challenge to democracy is that a party elected by a majority of the citizens of this country on a platform which included a promise not to bring in abortion is now proposing to do exactly that. If it wishes to change its democratic mandate on this issue it must go back to the people. – Yours, etc,