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A LETTER PUBLISHED this week under the 30 Year Rule has revealed a close working relationship between the Taoiseach and the Bishop of Clonfert ahead of the 1983 abortion referendum.
Almost immediately after receiving the Attorney General’s advice about problems with the wording for the proposed amendment to the Constitution on the right to life of the unborn, Garret Fitzgerald visited Bishop Joseph Cassidy.
Following the meeting, the Fine Gael leader sent six copies of Peter Sutherland’s opinion document to the Bishop, along with his direct telephone number and a promise the he would be available for talks “any time should you feel that it might be of assistance”.
He also thanked him for receiving him “so warmly”, adding that he appreciated his “willingness” to discuss the problems that had arisen at such short notice.
The Attorney General had outlined his reasons for not approving the proposed insertion to Article 40, including difficulties with defining what is meant by ‘the unborn’ and the prospect of rendering operations – “now carried out in full accord with the law of the State and the teaching of all the Churches” – unconstitutional.
Explaining his decision to find alternative wording to that compiled by the previous Fianna Fáil government, Fitzgerald said his main concern was to “ensure that the Amendment does in fact do what it sets out to do”. That was to prohibit abortion and to prevent the Supreme Court from making any decisions that could permit a wider regime on the island, as had happened through the Row -v- Wade case in the US.
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The documents released by the National Archives this week also include notes from discussions an official from the Taoiseach’s department held with the Pro-Life Amendment Campaign.
During one “informal off the record” meeting, Brendan Shortall (who was the PRO for the group) made it clear that he did not share the Attorney General’s concerns.
However, he was open to the idea of an alternative wording and that the campaign intended to come up with their own proposal.
According to an internal memo in the department, he said it “might be possible to pass that wording informally without commitment – as an indication of the current line of examination being considered by the campaign”.
Although Fine Gael did come up with an alternative amendment, it was struck down in the Dáil and the initial proposal was put to the people – and passed – in September 1983.
For further study, see the National Archives Ref 2013/100/557-569
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How times have changed. For the better.
As we all know now – the 8th Amendment was a bad idea.
Watch Mary Robinson explain the problems with it, and William Binchy denying that something like the X Case – where a 14 year old rape victim was prevented from travelling to the UK for an abortion *because* of the 8th Amendment – could ever happen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLWnoQjTNiw
The X Case necessitated further referendums and in 1993, the Irish people voted NOT to exclude suicide as a valid reason for abortion, as well as constitutionally enshrining a woman’s right to access information on and travel abroad to access abortion services.
I guess the X Case showed the Irish people how dangerous the 8th Amendment could be. The sooner it is repealed the better.
Agreed.
If unionists got one thing right is home rule is Rome rule. It was for long time
Just love taking the pill the morning after a great shag!
Are you the girl in he left in the pic? You have a lovely bottom
Sure they all have lovely bottoms
Hope the Princes of the church are not offende?
Not funny every time you take the morning after its like committing a murder.
Is it Gary?
The morning after pill suppresses ovulation, once the egg is fertilised the morning after pill is not effective.
So, the way the morning after pill actually works is the same way contraceptives work – they stop the egg from being released from the ovary – so the sperm has nothing to fuse with.
If the morning after pill is murder, then so is masturbation.
Masterbation is also a sin self violation.
@Gary:
You can’t even spell it……………!
Do you have to tell the priest in the Confession box about any self violation sins?
Ah – sin.
Your religious views are your own, they are personal and not universal. You have no right to force your religious beliefs upon anyone. We have freedom of as well as freedom from religion.
I purposely didn’t spell it correctly even saying the word makes me sick.
By your rationale – periods are sinful too, yet your god makes them happen.
What about wet dreams? They’re “sinful” too, yet the male has no conscious control of this.
Why did your god create abortifacients? Pennyroyal, mugwort, juniper, sage.. He even orders an abortion in the bible.. Not only that – it’s mentioned several times in the bible that life is equated with breath..
Perhaps you should look at what you base your faith upon a bit more closely, apply even the tiniest bit of logic and your ideas about “sin” crumble very quickly..
Gary has never masturbated once in his life, ever :)
Good response Shanti.
You all think you are hips kids slagging off god and his followers.
God transgresses cool and all of you.
@John
Thats because he was only using one hand to type
“There is nothing in the bible to indicate that a fetus is considered to be anything other than living tissue and, according to scripture, it does not become a living being until after it has taken a breath.”
Gary. Nothing like a good rub to take the stress away. Sure if the priest had done it we might not have all the sad stories we have now
Don’t worry Gary. There’s always God’s loophole: http://youtu.be/j8ZF_R_j0OY
Don’t bother. Gary is a troll. Fake twitter account
It is such a deceitful way of going on, then and now. Giving the clergy the ‘heads up’, prior to the people..those who elected them!! And all to direct and manipulate a desired outcome! But for whom? The unborn? The church and its dynastic hedgemony?? The greater good?? Public order?? Vomit-inducing. Sadly.
The clergy still have the heads up in court matters- with the Red Mass every year attended by judges, barristers etc.
Barristers are deemed the soul reapers for the Vatican.
Wow Gary, for someone who is so against masterbation you’re kinda showing yourself as a bit of a w**ker!!
What a whacker Michael?
Well whacker
A) doesn’t trigger the offensive language filter obviously, as both you and I have posted it now with no issue.
B) there were only two letters replaced by *, “whacker” inserts three letters in place of 2.
Winker would have been a better (although given the context, incorrect) guess.
Actually Gary if you look up the way you spell it in the urban dictionary it might be describing you
This comes as no surprise but it is disappointing that Garrett Fitzgerald did this.
Agreed, David. I had been an admirer of Fitzgerald and am, frankly, disgusted on reading this report. Shameful behavior. It appears that even those who affected a libertarian stance were in fact common or garden bishop lickers like all of the rest. Appalling.
Ah, come on people: Gary is a troll, nobody really has those religious zealot views in Ireland anymore. The Catholic Church has no place for such idiotic and extremist views. It’s probably best just to ignore him. It’s a pity he hijacked such an important article!
While Gary is a Troll, i can assure you that there are people in ireland with his views. Did you not see RTE News people were still supporting their priests after they had been convicted of child abuse. And supporting the bishops who had knowingly covered it all up.
I’ve met people like Gary in real life, so while he could be – and likely is – merely taking the mick out of these people, there’s a slim chance he’s actually one of them..
Bless us and save us.!!!!
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