In his charming and warm folksy way,
He let every rose have her day,
But again, from Tralee,
Three more hours of TV,
Have we reached peak Daithí Ó’Sé?
John Moynes
(RTE)
Yearly Archives: 2014
Breathtaking aerials of the fjords, rivers and glaciated highlands of Iceland shot (from the open window of a small plane) during a recent visit by French photographer Sarah Martinet
Professor William Binchy (top) and Justice Adrian Hardiman (above)
From March 1992, a piece written by Adrian Hardiman SC (Supreme Court Judge since 2000) in the Sunday Independent on the X case and Pro Life Campaign legal advisor William Binchy.
Anti-abortion extremists are demanding a further referendum to turn the clock back in a drastic way. Their position is both obscurantist and less than honest.
The first thing to be said about this group is that their legal thinking is demonstrably unreliable. They were warned in 1983 that the wording of the amendment was, in the words of the then Attorney General, “ambiguous and unsatisfactory”. They insisted that it was perfect. They now wish to change it again.
They were expressly warned, by this writer amongst others, that the amendment could be used to prevent women from travelling. They scoffed at the idea or pretended to do so, and called it scaremongering. This is precisely what happened and (without the amended protocol) what could happen again.
In recent weeks this group has loudly proclaimed that it does not wish to interfere with the right to travel. If this is true, it is a death-bed conversion. It was not apparently their view a few months ago when the original protocol was negotiated.
Worse still there is ample evidence that this group positively envisaged the use of penal sanctions, including imprisonment, against Irish women who had abortions abroad. In 1981 Professor-elect William Binchy wrote the first article I am aware of suggesting a referendum on abortion. If passed, he foresaw that injunctions could be granted to restrain a pregnant woman from travelling abroad for an abortion.
He continued “. . . if the consequences of defying an injunction were made absolutely clear to the defendant, this might (have some effect. These consequences are indeed awesome. The defendant would be in contempt of court — for which commital to prison is the penalty: moreover an action for damages would also lie for ‘destruction of the child’s constitutional right to life: One must be realistic here. A woman threatened with such sanctions (could well decide to stay in England after her abortion rather than come back to prison in Ireland’ (emphasis added). (Binchy: Ethical issues in Reproductive Medicine: A legal perspective”) published by Gill and Macmillan 1982.
In the same article the Professor-elect declared that-the “simple legal solution” might be to make it a criminal offence to have an abortion anywhere in the world.
He said “for our legislation now to provide that it should be illegal to have an abortion abroad would therefore not be changing what since 1861 has been the intended effect of our abortion law: on the contrary it would do no more than restore the position in light of legislative developments elsewhere over which we have no control”.
He continued by asking whom precisely the law would cover. Answering his own question he said, “Obviously it should not extend, for, example, to an English woman residing in England who had a perfectly legal abortion there. If she came to Ireland for a visit some time later, she should scarcely be hauled off to Mountjoy for what she had done.
“It would seem that the law should be limited to persons with a close connection with Ireland at the time of the commission of the offence. Such persons could include those who are habitually resident here or, more restrictively. Irish nationals who are habitually resident here.”
Previously: And So It Came To Pass
Not So Fast
Just William
“Our Values Are Considerably More Subtle Than You Might Think.”
Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so9gPb3_Q2g
The prolific Laura Gaynor (previously) writes:
For several months at college this year I found myself living off chocolate, burritos and tea. This climaxed to a crescendo where I disposed of my breakfast in a blind rage. In any case, I decided I would write something about the weighty topic that is food at college. To my surprise, it’s in the Irish Times. I did a vlog about it too. I’d love if you’d check it out and let me know what you think.
How To Eat Well At College: Ditch the Junk Food And Get Cooking (Laura Gaynor, Irish Times)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRCIZMbTqoE&feature=youtu.be
ROAD TRIP!
Niall Fitzgerald writes:
“My young fella [Luke] and I made this video of our recent road trip and camping holiday around the south east and west of Ireland during the week of the good weather. shows off the country quite nicely ;)”
The woman refused an abortion has spoken with The irish Times about her experience.
Over the following weeks, she says, she had a number of meetings at the IFPA [Irish Family Planning Association] and though the process seemed to be in train she was told some weeks later that the estimated cost of travelling to England, having the abortion and possible overnight accommodation could be over €1,500. An individual in the IFPA, she says, told her the State would not fund the costs
“I said we’re getting too far, and she said, no, in England they carry out abortions up to 28 weeks . . . She said ‘that is not the problem. The problem is the money’.
“The next day, around 10am, I was taken in a taxi to another hospital . . . When we got there I thought they were going to help me. They brought me to a room where they did a scan and the pregnancy was 24 weeks and one day . . .They said they could not do an abortion. I said, ‘You can leave me now to die. I don’t want to live in this world anymore’.”
…On Monday night two doctors came, a psychiatrist and a gynaecologist, and said, ‘We are going to carry out the abortion next Monday but you have to be strong. You have to eat. You have to drink.’ I started to eat and I drank.”
She says she was told a few days later that the plan had changed.
“They said the pregnancy was too far. It was going to have to be a Caesarean section . . . They said wherever you go in the world, the United States, anywhere, at this point it has to be a Caesarean.
She says that a number of days later, two medics told her the authorities had been made aware of her situation and she would need a solicitor….
Stair Porn
at
The sensuous, flowing lines of a bespoke wooden staircase at a Mumbai apartment by Mexican studio Arquitectura en Movimiento Workshop.
Kieran Dold writes:
Been enjoying holidays in Croatia and have been using Bus Croatia. Take a look at where this ‘Croatian’ bus is going. Also no bus looks like that here…
