The constituency office of Cork North Central TD Mick Barry has been daubed with graffiti referring to him as a "baby killer" over his pro-choice views in relation to abortion.
The Anti-Austerity Alliance deputy condemned whoever painted "Baby Killer Out" on the front of the office in Blackpool late on Wednesday night but said he would not be deterred from continuing to put forward arguments for repealing the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.
Mr Barry was one of a number of TDs who appeared in Dáil Eireann on Tuesday wearing jumpers with slogans calling for the repeal of the amendment, which guarantees the equal right to life of the unborn and the mother.
He said he learned about the graffiti when a restaurant owner in Blackpool called him shortly before 9am on Thursday.
“I’ve been an activist for 35 years and I can well remember the 1983 amendment campaign and the level of fanaticism displayed by some opponents of a woman’s right to choose and I am known for my support for the pro-choice position so I am not surprised by this,” he said.
“I know that not everyone will agree or agree fully with my viewpoint but I’m not easily knocked out of my stride and I am quite firm that I will conduct this debate in terms of discussions around ideas in an effort to convince people and I condemn this sort of vandalism.”
CCTV
Mr Barry said he had reported the matter to the gardaí and he understood CCTV footage showed the graffiti was painted on the office at around 9.50pm. Efforts to identify the person responsible are ongoing.
He said his constituency office staff had highlighted the incident on social media and had been inundated with messages of support.
“We’ve had a lot of people calling in to the office including people who don’t share our views on a woman’s right to choose to say how disgusted they are by this while we also have had a mini-avalanche of messages of support on social media,” he said.
“We also have had people volunteering to help us remove the graffiti and a team of volunteers are working at the moment to remove it and clean from the wall of the constituency office which is located right in the heart of the historic village of Blackpool.”
