The annual memorial, for the babies aborted in Ireland since repeal of the Eighth Amendment in 2018, was held at 12 noon on 21 st May 2022, in Dungarvan Town Park.
There were four speakers. Vicky Wall of Every Life Counts said that repeal of the Eighth Amendment was a “huge loss” but that after we grieved in the pro-life movement, we regrouped and found new ways to continue the struggle. Vicky said she was proud to be associated with people who fight for the right to life of others whom they do not even know. She said that our children are much more important than material things, and recounted the true story of a woman who accumulated a lot of possessions in her lifetime, but on her deathbed cried out for her three daughters from whom she was estranged.
Becky Kealy of Aontú (Cork North West) said that we need pro-life people in Dáil Éireann to fight for the right to life, but also for housing and education rights, as these are all connected. She said that, while the public voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment, they did not vote for the extreme abortion regime where we ended up with more than 20,000 abortions in the first three years. She highlighted some of the worst features of our abortion regime, such as the absence of provision for foetal pain relief, and the failure to safeguard the rights of medics to conscientious objection, and bemoaned that all the while women are being kept in the dark about positive alternatives to abortion. She said that support for the pro-life cause among Irish voters was far greater than the media would have us believe, that the referendum vote in 2018 showed that it was actually more than one out of three voters.
The growth of Aontú in Ireland, and the latest developments in America, are evidence that the abortion issue is far from settled. A copy of Becky’s speech can be viewed on the Déise4Life Facebook page. Dr Ronan Cleary, Chairman of Doctors for Life, attended the rally with his two children; his eight-month old baby girl smiled serenely as her father spoke.
He spoke as follows: “Doctors for Life is a non-profit advocacy group consisting of doctors and nurses who believe in the fundamental right to life of the unborn child and oppose any measures which seek to undermine the value and importance of the life inherent in all of us. We are advocates for life from conception until natural death”. Dr Cleary also read aloud the poem “Unto us..” by Spike Milligan (also available to view on the Déise4Life Faceboook page).
Fr John McEneaney spoke of the need for prayers of reparation. He read aloud Psalm 139 (which includes the lines “Truly you have formed my inmost being, You knit me in my mother’s womb, I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made”). He concluded with the Lord’s Prayer and a blessing on all attending.
Déise4Life, who organised the memorial, commented: “This was a wonderful, quiet remembrance of the babies we have lost to abortion. The white crosses signify the innocence of the unborn, and the lack of respect for many of their remains, the many who do not get a proper burial or resting place. Also, we remember the anguish suffered by mothers and families, who feel that they have no hope or other alternatives. We thank sincerely all who spoke at the rally, and all who attended.”