Sir, – I would like to thank Wicklow TDs Anne Ferris (Labour) and Stephen Donnelly (Independent) for representing the majority of their constituents by supporting Clare Daly’s Bill to legislate for a termination of pregnancy where there is a fatal foetal abnormality.
The Government voted against this legislation because it believed it to be unconstitutional. However unconstitutional it may or may not be, it is utterly wrong that it would vote against it while refusing to hold a referendum on the issue. – Yours, etc,
ABIGAIL ROONEY,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – I commend Clare Daly for trying to bring some clarity to this awful situation which women are faced with. What was reprehensible was the attitude of Sinn Féin, which didn’t vote, a cowardly act by that so-called republican party. – Yours, etc,
PAUL DORAN,
Clondalkin,
Dublin 22.
Sir, – The Government and the Labour Party in particular have brought politics to a new low in opposing Clare Daly’s Bill to give a choice to parents of foetuses with fatal foetal abnormalities to terminate their pregnancies in this country.
So now we are faced with a situation where 83 per cent of our political representatives in the Dáil have said no to a proposal supported by the vast majority of the population, according to many opinion polls since 2011.
The Labour Party has “copped out” of its responsibility to the electorate, claiming that the issue of fatal foetal abnormality did not form part of its political manifesto at the last election.
This is crass hypocrisy and particularly so as the party actually promised in its manifesto not to introduce property tax and water rates.
I have never felt more sickened and nauseated at the cowardice and narrow self-interest of the majority of our elected representatives.
Political expediency has clearly ruled the day.
Anne Ferris has shown courage and sensitivity to the plight of many families affected by this tragedy and she should be applauded and not ostracised by the Labour Party.
The Labour TDs who didn’t turn up to vote in the Dáil are the sorriest group in this sorry saga; the fence they straddle will seem very precarious when they face the electorate in the next election.
Clare Daly may have lost an important vote today, but she stands for human rights and has won the hearts of the electorate. – Yours, etc,
ANNE O’REILLY,
Dublin 16.
Sir, – How long until there is a Bill to terminate the lives of the elderly with terminal illnesses? – Yours, etc,
ROSALYN TAMMING,
Sallins,
Co Kildare.
Sir, – The Government said it could not, for constitutional reasons, support Clare Daly’s Bill to allow for terminations in circumstances where an unborn child has no prospect of life outside the womb. One can understand and fully appreciate that position, based on a clearly stated legal concern. But what I found deeply disturbing is that the Government, and indeed some Opposition parties, were loathe to allow a free vote on this Bill. – Yours, etc,
JOHN FITZGERALD,
Callan,
Co Kilkenny.
Sir, – So Labour had to oppose Clare Daly’s bill because it was “unconstitutional”. Apparently after the next election it will have become “constitutional”. I believe Dev stated in 1918 that “Labour must wait”. In his wildest dreams the Chief could hardly have imagined that in 2015 his Constitution has kept Labour still “waiting”. – Yours, etc,
Fr IGGY O’DONOVAN,
Limerick.
Sir, – Well done to Miriam Lord on her withering summary of the defeat of Clare Daly's Bill ("Dáil Sketch", February 11th). It highlighted the difference between politicians who try and change society and those whose only consideration is not associating themselves with anything that might jeopardise their chances of re-election. Enda Kenny's cynical approach was to take the opt-out opportunity afforded by the attorney general's advice and kick this issue to beyond the next election. His statements carried his usual patronising tone. It is a tone one associates with somebody who thinks the position he occupies suddenly provides him with a wisdom superior to those on the fringes, but actually reflects a shallowness associated with somebody out of touch with his electorate. – Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Blackrock,
Cork.