“I’d Wake Up Every Day And Say, ‘Is It Going To Be Today?'”

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Claire Cullen-Delsol and her husband Wayne with their stillborn daughter Alex

Further to calls for a repeal of the Eight Amendment.

Ellen Coyne, in the Ireland edition of The Times, reports:

Claire Cullen-Delsol, 31, a mother of two from Waterford city, had to wait over a month for her daughter’s heartbeat to stop naturally before she could end a pregnancy that had no medical chance of succeeding.

Ms Cullen-Delsol and her husband, Wayne, have an eight-year-old daughter and a 20-month-old son. In August, twenty weeks into her pregnancy, she was told that Alex, her second daughter, would not survive because of a chromosome disorder.

…Ms Cullen-Delsol said that travelling for an abortion seemed too traumatic, so her only choice was to wait until the baby died.

“During those five weeks I could still feel her moving inside me, and every week the movement would get less and less — she was dying inside me,” she said. “Sometimes when I couldn’t feel her moving I would drink something cold and then something hot, and then I might try loud music, and then I might jump around to see if she’d move, just to be sure.

“I would wake up every day and say, ‘Is it going to be today? Is today going to be the day she dies?’”

“…There were times when I’d have to leave the house to go shopping, because the kids needed to eat, and I might see a mother with a baby and just have to abandon the trolley and go home. It was absolute torture. There were days when I would have to call people for help. My daughter started begging her dad not to go to work, because she could hear me crying after he left.

She added: “One night I woke up, and there was a complete stillness unlike anything I could describe. There was no movement. I knew she was gone.”

‘I had to wait for my baby to die inside me’ (Ellen Coyne, Ireland edition of The Times, no paywall)

Pic: Claire Cullen Delsol

Thanks Richard

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121 thoughts on ““I’d Wake Up Every Day And Say, ‘Is It Going To Be Today?'”

  1. meadowlark

    That was a very difficult read. I hope that this family never have to go through that kind of heartbreak again. This is why we must repeal the 8th. No family should have to go through that.

  2. Prop Joe

    BS, please – either disable comments ont his or can people please not politicise the story. Please.
    Heart breaking.

    1. ahjayzis

      I’d imagine politicising it was the sole motivation for writing it.

      This barbarity has to be politicised for anything to change.

      1. newsjustin

        I agree with your first point.

        But if it’s barbarism to not abort a living foetus, how does one describe the deliberate abortion of that foetus? Strange concept of what barbarism means.

        1. ahjayzis

          I call it bodily autonomy and integrity. I don’t presume to call the shots on what does and does not go on in my neighbours womb.

          Nor do you, I’m sure – you don’t favour criminalising Irish women having abortions abroad do you? If you think it’s murder, why not pursue those women? Otherwise it’s all a bit NIMBYish and one law for the rich uterus owner, one for the poor.

          1. classter

            I suspect much of the pro-life lobby would indeed be happy to pursue criminal proceedings against those who have had an abortion abroad.

            The rest of society while strangely (imo) uncomfortable with allowing the right to choose isn’t quite willing to carry this sentiment through to its logical conclusion.

        2. well

          Fetus don’t care though.

          If a fetus watched you getting ripped apart it wouldn’t care , because it’s a fetus.

          1. newsjustin

            It’s odd that it’s always the time or place to suggest repealing the 8th, even along with a tragic story such as this, but never the right time or place (for you anyway Don) to suggest not repealing the 8th.

          2. classter

            newsjustin, you should certainly be allowed comment on not repealing the 8th – its just that in the context of this story, you would do your cause much more good by staying quiet.

          3. Dόn Pídgéόní

            News can comment when he has the balls to stand in front of a couple like that and tell them that he doesn’t think they should have a choice, that terminations are barbaric.

          4. newsjustin

            Thanks for your (qualified) permission to speak Don.

            I’d be happy to share my thoughts with anyone, if I felt it was worthwhile and not liable to cause needless upset.

          5. scottser

            ‘I’d be happy to share my thoughts with anyone, if I felt it was worthwhile and not liable to cause needless upset.’

            your views are nothing short of distasteful, and i for one am actually offended by your utter disregard for a family’s suffering in order to maintain an outdated orhodoxy. you call yourself a christian? you have no idea what that even means.

          6. newsjustin

            How have I shown disregard for a family’s suffering?

            And which of my views, in particular, do you find so distasteful? You may not agree with me, but I’d be dissapointed if you thought my views were distasteful.

        3. pedeyw

          Not at all. Mentally and possibly physically traumatise a woman by forcing her to continue with a doomed pregnancy is barbaric. Aborting said pregnancy for the sake of both the Mother and the foetus who has no chance of living is mercy. The no chance of living bit is the important part of there. Despite what you make think about abortion on demand, forcing a woman to go through with a non viable pregnancy is barbaric.

      2. classter

        +1 ahjayzis

        It is an awful story but it is great that women are finally telling these stories.

        Shame/embarrassment has allowed abortion to be debated in the abstract for too long.

    2. Chris

      Unfortunately it has been forced into the sphere of being allowed to be politicized by cynical government inaction in favor of parish pump politics. You should direct your distaste of the politicization of this issue against them and anyone who asks you for your vote. The people who allowed this to go for so long on care more about votes than the women involved in these tragic cases or even their own cloaked views on the issue.

      1. Clampers Outside!

        “The people who allowed this to go for so long care more about votes than the women involved”…. damn right !

        None of the referendums to date were actually about abortion. They were about those in power not wanting to be seen as the “party that brought in abortion” so they were about half measures and tinkering with the fringe of the issue and not the issue itself.

        The last referendum in particular was a vile, willfully deceitful, despicable piece of politics from FG as they made efforts to show that they were addressing the issue of abortion by introducing a ridiculous referendum on the ‘mental health’ of the mother. This IMO, was nothing more than FG desperately trying to avoid being the party that brought in abortion.

        Anyone believing different is deluded.

        IMO

  3. Zuppy International

    Hard cases make bad law.

    Why not shoot everybody over 50 so we don’t have to watch them grow old and die?

    And make it illegal to grieve so everybody will be happy at all times.

    Your banker overlords require nothing less.

      1. classter

        Zuppy is wrong about most things & sometimes unpleasantly so.

        But he/she has been a long-time commenter here – banning him/her would be a retrograde step.

    1. Dubh Linn

      Broadsheet, please can this heartless person be banned or put on moderation. Enough is enough. People will stop sending you stories if they think this is typical of the sort that read and comment on your pages. Idiots like this will lose you the credibility you have earned by publishing stories that no other national paper will touch.

      1. newsjustin

        Far more explicit, graphic and nasty things have often been posted by commentators of a pro-choice persuasion here…..usually “tongue in cheek”, etc.

        1. MoyestWithExcitement

          Of course. This is just a tribal, partisan fight for folks like yourself. You don’t care about people, you care about your guys winning.

          1. newsjustin

            Saying that won’t make it true Moyest. No matter how much you tell yourself that “the other side” just doesn’t care, it won’t be true.

          2. MoyestWithExcitement

            Clearly it is. You don’t care about people at all. You’re just sick of those damn libruls trying to get their way.

          3. Clampers Outside!

            i agree with Moyest. Most anti-women campaigners or to give them their misnomer ‘pro-lifers’ I have spoken too could not give a damn about the mother and are fixated on “don’t kill the child, don’t kill the child”. The woman’s story we’ve all just read is proof of that.

        2. Nice Anne (Dammit)

          Oh don’t worry. Your record on this matter is there for anyone to see who searches on the abortion tag. We get it, you are a little little man who wants to control women and take choices about their own bodies away from them. Well you can go and fupp off with yourself.

          1. newsjustin

            Of course, because there is no other explanation for being anti-abortion.

            Pull the other one Anne.

          2. Dubh Linn

            Just remember on a thread where the horrific circumstances of a woman forced to carry a dying baby against her will have been discussed, you are the one shouting about your anti-abortion agenda whereas everyone else is talking about choice, counselling, guidence and offering words of support to the woman whose story it is.

            Says a lot about the mind set of people like you. Not really compassionate towards women at all, are you?

          3. rotide

            I should clarify and say you’re proving his point regarding being nasty and also politicising it as much as he is.

            not really the place for it.

          4. Nice Anne (Dammit)

            I don’t think there is a woman out there that you could persuade to touch it with a bargepole never mind pull it, that is probably part of your problem. Men that don’t understand women generally want to control them in one way or another.
            I look forward to the look on the face of people like you when we do have abortion on request in this country.

            I look forward even more to your small-minded, controlling, hateful, mysoganistic, distrustful way of thinking being consigned to the past along with magdalene laundries and the boat to the UK where it belogs.

            Free choice for all. Sour grapes for others.

          5. newsjustin

            “I look forward to the look on the face of people like you when we do have abortion on request in this country.”

            Thankfully you’ll get very long odds on that ever happening.

            And “sour grapes”? Please reread your post and consider who’s bitter.

          6. Nice Anne (Dammit)

            I do my bit offline to hasten that day coming while I know keyboard warriors like you just sit in front of youe screens spewing woman hating bile.

            Spew away. Spew away. Thank goodness there are real people, good people, out there making sure the day for choice comes sooner rather than later.

          7. newsjustin

            Can you point me to any of this “women hating bile”? That’s quite an accusation and I’d like to know where you got it from (if it wasn’t from your own mind).

          8. MoyestWithExcitement

            “Thankfully you’ll get very long odds on that ever happening.”

            There ya go. Like I said, this is just about your tribe beating the other tribe.

          9. newsjustin

            Umm…that was a genuinely held opinion. One that many people, regardless of their views on the matter, would know to be quite reasonable (the prospect of abortion on request in Ireland is surely very slim).

          10. MoyestWithExcitement

            I never said it wasn’t reasonable. I just said that, for you, this is about your tribe beating the other tribe. You wouldn’t bother citing anyone else’s opinion if it was something you’ve genuinely thought about. You’re the type of person that repeats slogans like they’re your opinion.

          11. newsjustin

            You are clearly hungry up on the two tribes thing, so all I can add is to say that I don’t see this as a “them and us” thing.

            I’ve said before that I respect the bonfides all reasonable people in this debate, including those with very different opinions.

        3. Dubh Linn

          This is a reply on a thread to a woman who was forced to carry her dead baby inside her. Save your point scoring for somewhere else.

        4. scottser

          ‘Far more explicit, graphic and nasty things have often been posted by commentators of a pro-choice persuasion here…..usually “tongue in cheek”, etc.’

          but none more offensive than condescending to a family over their difficult choice. then you dress you judgement up as ‘concern’. you are a hypocrite.

          1. Nice Anne (Dammit)

            @scottser – Don’t worry about newsjusin showing concern. Of all the words said by this person on this thread none of them were of any compassion for any of the women or couples that have been through this horrifying experince. It is almost as if having this anti-abortion, anti-choice viewpoint makes people like him strangers to empathy.

            You see empathy forces you to put yourself in another person’s shoes and think about how they must be feeling as I have seen you do. Even with your reply you are considering the effects of harst words on a greiving family. It is a hard thing to process and not for everyone.

            Unfortunately understanding is the thing that is most needed in this debate from those unaffected by the issue (men, those of non-childbearing age) in order to understand the concerns of those who the issue does effect.

            I have tried engaging with him before but he is really not interested in anyone elses point of view except to shout it down.

    2. Owen O'F

      This is even better than your ‘space travel is all made up because rockets need air to push against’ post from some time back

  4. Trotscot

    This is truly a traumatic experience. My wife and I went through the same – but that moment when we held our son and said goodbye was something that we never would have had. If we had had the choice we probably would have chosen to terminate – and would have missed the most precious moment we have ever had. But – what we didn’t have was the choice. If it happened again and we were free to choose, we would not terminate – just for that moment. This really isn’t about whether we believe termination is right or wrong – it’s about having the freedom to make that choice.

    1. meadowlark

      Thank you for sharing that. Because only people who have been through what you and the could know how it feels to know your baby has no chance at life, but, as you said, how precious the moments you do get with them are. So thank you, truly.

    2. Nice Anne (Dammit)

      Yes, choice is the importaint thing. Perhaps one day if we mature as a country, it can be explained to someone in your position that if you carry the child until birth (if you can mentally handle it) you get to hold them and say goodbye. If you cannot mentally handle it, the choice for a termination is yours too with the promise to make sure to remove all traces of infection and matter to leave you free to try again when you are ready.

      With choice, should come the information to make an informed choice. I am sorry you were denied that but glad it worked out like this for you.

    3. Geri Cullem

      Thank you for your comment. This is what this article is about. The choice. Claire and Wayne did not have that choice. The sadness and trauma that our whole family suffered through this awful experience could have been avoided if the woman had the ability to choose. What kind of a 3rd world country do we live in.

  5. newsjustin

    The loss of a child is horrific. I don’t see how ending a life in anticipation of that loss can make that loss any more bearable.

    RE not politicising this, too late, the Times story and BS reproduction are both squarely aimed at adding to the debate around the 8th. It is a political matter, whilst also being a private one.

    1. Nice Anne (Dammit)

      It is also none of your business what anyone does with their bodies so make your choices for yourself and leave the rest of us to make our own choices. The days have gone when little men like you ruled over women’s lives. thoughts and bodies.
      Dinosaur.

      1. newsjustin

        An article in a newspaper and reproduced online with the intention of supporting calls for a referendum, yet no comment is allowed because it’s such a private issue? Right.

        1. Nice Anne (Dammit)

          It is also none of your business what anyone does with their bodies even if they take out a banner ad and fly it in the sky for all to see.

          Your opinions will not dictate what any woman does with her body.

          1. newsjustin

            It’s my business if there is innocent human life at risk.

            My opinions should not dictate what anyone does per se. But if there is to be a vote on the 8th, my vote will be counted the same as yours Anne.

          2. pedeyw

            Well that’s just it. In this case the life isn’t at risk. The foetus is going to die in the womb. That’s not risk, it’s certainty.

          3. Vera from d'county

            So where the dying foetus represents a risk of infection to the innocent human life of the Mother, you would be all in favour of her having the choice to terminate?

          4. newsjustin

            Vera, if the mother’s life was at risk and could be saved by aborting a pregnancy, it should, of course, be a choice. (As per our constitution and medical guidelines).

    2. Spud1

      Being in that limbo of knowing your baby is dying inside you is something that’s very hard to comprehend. My heart goes out to that couple, and many many more that are enduring the pain and mental anguish.
      Having experienced the pain of a missed missed carriage, knowing that our baby was already dead was very hard to accept until the miscarriage would happen. We wanted to have the D&C as early as possible to move on. At least we were in control of the options.
      They are different ways of coping, and as Trotscot pointed out, the key is the freedom of choice.
      To assist with this awful time, some mothers / couples may want to terminate to start to grieve and somehow move on as best they can… but others may need for things to progress without.
      Thank you or posting this BS and thanks for the posters who share any experience they may have.

      1. Nice Anne (Dammit)

        I am so sorry about your loss. My heart goes out to you. I hope as time passes it gets easier for you xx

    3. scottser

      ‘The loss of a child is horrific. I don’t see how ending a life in anticipation of that loss can make that loss any more bearable.’

      it does not concern you, and your feelings like your opinions are not important. why you feel the need to trot out your bile here where it isn’t wanted is more of a mystery.

      1. newsjustin

        What bile? I’m reflecting on the call to debate the repeal of the 8th amendment, as seems to be intent of this BS article, given the opening line of the post.

        Differing viewpoints not welcome, eh Scottser?

        1. Nice Anne (Dammit)

          Great yes, by all means do repeal the 8th!! and let Ireland have a UK style abortion on request model, where women have atonomy over their bodies, freedom of choice, medical councelling to help them make a choice and the support of society and the medical profession for whatever that choice is.

          No courts to decide if they were raped or not before being “allowed” an abortion, no onus on a traumatised woman to prove to multiple doctors that they are mentally traumatised at the thought of being forced to continue with an unwanted pregnancy, no Mothers lives put at risk by unviable pregnancies. Excellent idea Newsjustin. Glad we got you there in the end

    4. squiggleyjoop

      “The loss of a child is horrific. I don’t see how ending a life in anticipation of that loss can make that loss any more bearable.”

      Fair enough, you can’t see how it makes it more bearable. But I, along with many others, can. I can’t see how carrying the child to term makes it any more bearable. But I would never try and deny people the choice to do so just because I don’t understand it.

    5. Orlita

      Did you not read the article? She describes the utter torment she felt as she waited for it all to end. Just because you can’t imagine it doesn’t mean that women shouldn’t have choice

  6. Liggy

    Claire, I am so sorry that you had to go through this. My heart goes out to you. It is something no woman should have to bear alone and ultimately when it is your body going through this without any legal recourse or medical help, you are alone.

    A lot of women have made a choice about abortion and for each and everyone, it was the right one for them to make. Some terminated, some did not. Most women I have talked to about it neither regret it nor take pride in their decision. It was just something that had to be faced up to and done.

    Not in Ireland. In Ireland, your choice is the boat / place so it becomes England’s to deal with or have the baby. If you do not have the money or are not allowed to travel, well the choice is forced on you.

    I wish that my fellow Irishwomen had the same options in their own country as women in , the chance to make a medical choice. That choice could be yes or could be no. We are in charge of ourselves enough to be able to decide. The women in the following countries are trusted enough to decide for themselves:
    South Africa, Cape Verde, China, North Korea, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, India, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, Turkey, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Cuba, Canada, Mexico, USA (All states except 7) Guyana, Uruguay. Irish women should be allowed the same choice!

  7. Joni2015

    Travelling would be too traumatic? Does she expect an abortion to be performed at home? Traveling will alway be necessary. I really struggle to see the issue in spending a couple of extra hours travelling.

    1. well

      You really don’t see the issue in forcing women to go to another country for this? or perhaps you do and you’re quite happy about that.

    2. 1stTimeCaller

      Hi Joni2015
      Travelling to another country for a termination means spending hours in airports or ferry ports, dealing with crowds, being around other families with children and babies. It means that after an appointment a woman can’t go home to her own house and her own bed. It means that she has to be away from her home, probably in some travel lodge. It might mean that she has to be away from her kids or her parents and everyone else in her life who makes up her support group. And she has to deal with all this while going through the most traumatic experience of her life. When someone’s going through a traumatic life event even the most mundane and basic of daily tasks can seem impossible.
      I think that if you think about it, you’ll be able to see the issue with it.

    3. Vera from d'county

      In that case you make a termination something only achievable by:
      Those who can afford the travel / accomodaton / hospital costs (currenty will run to about 2000 Euros)
      Those can take the time off work / signing on
      Those who can arrange alternative childcare

      You do know it is not a small procedure right? It takes about 6 weeks to recover from. Anyone that has told you that you can get an abortion in the morning and shop after lunch is lying. It is an invasive medical procedure.

      Why should we oblige a tramatised woman who is already frightened to have to go through the stress of having to travel to the UK to take care of a problem we are perfectly well equipped to deal with here in Ireland? Honestly! Why would anyone want to do that?

    4. ahjayzis

      I’m sure you would have ZERO gripes about having to travel several hundred miles over land and sea to get a hernia sorted, get a colonoscopy, or any other medical intervention. None at all. Sure it’s all water off a ducks back. Sure one’s as convenient as the other, horse. Great stuff.

  8. DubLoony

    This is more common than people realise.
    As the author of the article and commentors who have direct experience of it, it is heart breaking, nuanced and one answer does not fit all circumstance.
    This is why when faced with these situations, people need to be able to talk openly and honestly with medical practitioners. and health care workers need to be able to provide honest answers and together formulate a care plan that it appropriate to the needs of the case.
    The 8th must go.

    1. Dubh Linn

      +1 – That is it in a nutshell. Choice is not about just terminating or not. It is about having a consultation with an impartion medical professional that can help you make the right choice for the type of person you are, the circumsdances you are in and your mental outlook.

      I guess that is why the anti-choicers do not understand that choice is a lot more nuanced that “Just say no or export out little problem to England”

  9. Spaghetti Hoop

    One of many sad stories.
    Which of our power-hungry politicians have the guts to call a Referendum?

  10. Dόn Pídgéόní

    As others have said, this is so awful, I can’t imagine how hard this must have been. I only hope that this law is changed sooner rather than later to stop this happening to anyone else.

  11. 15 cents

    what does it take for them to change the law? a woman died .. one that we know of, god knows how many others. and now this.. which im sure isnt the only person for it to happen to. the government definetly will put it to public vote, but because is all they care about is power and because they genuinely dont care about the people, they’ll hold us to ransom, theyll say theyll put it to vote if theyre elected back in. joan burton already said exactly that.. and its disgusting that theyd do that, putting people through unbearable hardship for their own gain. horrible shower of .. nrrrrrr..

  12. Casey

    Ellen / Claire – this must have been a very difficult piece to write especially as soon as you put your story out there, you become subject to the opinions of people who may not be sympathetic to what you went through. Hopefully you have noticed that there are a lot of people on this thread who are understanding, compassionate and wish you all the best.

    I do appricaite that if this happened to myself and my wife, it would be my wife who would bear the brunt of the physical and mental strain. I admire you for going through that and looking after two small kids at the same time.

    To be honest, I had always though the debate was about the right to abortion on demand but seeing how some of the women who have had terminations write about the experience on this site, I understand a bit more now. (I think) I am sure if I get it wrong, they will soon let me know :) It is about choice and being given the information to make the right choice and to be supported once the choice has been made.

    Recently I came familiar with the expression abortion on request which I understand is the UK / Scandanavian model. For pregnancies up to 3 monthsl, an abortion will be given on any grounds after a consultation with a medical professional to explain the choices the woman has and their possible outcomes. After3 months, the need for an abortion is assessed based on physical / mental need of the Mother or non-viability of the foetus.

    This sounds very fair and the best solution to me but then it is really up to the women of child-baring age in this country. They are the ones that should have complete autonomy over their bodies.

  13. Clampers Outside!

    Please stop will the calls to not politicise the story. It is and will be politicised.

    We have an abortion referendum coming and we need to discuss everything from every angle.

    1. rotide

      I completely agree that everything needs to be discussed but as regards to it being politicised you can’t have it both ways here.

      If its perfectly acceptable to call everyone who expresses a dissenting opinion a ‘woman hater’ then its acceptable for news to post his opinion without being told what a disgusting human being he is.

      1. Casey

        rotide, I only saw one person on this thread being called a mysoganist because of his anti-abortion stance and refusal to acknowledge that women should have atonomy over their own bodies. This attitude of his was seen in a lot of the abortion threads lately.

        Any person refusing to allow a woman atomony over her own body is discusting, a throwback to the earlier part of this century when women were supposed to shut up and be good little babymakers. As a Father, I would be horrified if my daughter brought someone home like this as a boyfriend.

        1. rotide

          Being anti-abortion or pro-life does not make one a misogynist. That is as much propoganda as the poo the pro lifers come out with.

          1. Nice Anne (Dammit)

            As a woman, someone wanting legislation that denies me control over my body is hateful to all women.
            As hateful as me going out there and voting for legislation to deny treatment for scrotal cancer would be to all men.
            Please don’t try to define what is mysoganistic and what is not without some critical thinking.

          2. rotide

            You’re allowed define what misogynistic is but I’m not?

            Again, this is not the place for this discussion

          3. Casey

            Yet you come back to push the point you are trying to make about misogamy.

            You cannot have it both ways.

    2. newsjustin

      Except from the angle of not removing the text inserted in the 8th amendment. That’s beyond the pale and “bile” apparently.

  14. Sheila

    I moved away from Ireland over twenty years ago. One of my main reasons for not returning is because of this issue. When a woman is denied the right to do what she wants with her body – she might as well live in a third world country.

    Reading this story – reminds me of the backward country Ireland is. It is disgusting how women are treated there. That a woman can be raped and be forced to carry a child from that rape – shows exactly how some people in that country think.

    Without the choice to make their own decisions – women will always be in a weak position. There is something horribly wrong with a culture that puts the a fetus before the woman it resides in. It seems to me the misogynistic Catholic church is still in control of people there and how they live life.

    I am very happy I don’t pay tax into a system that is so sexist. I feel sorry that they are forced to suffer unnecessary pain.

    1. Vera from d'country

      Some of us feel proud of some aspects of our country and feel it is worth staying put to fight to make it better.
      You left – fine and I hope that worked out for you but don’t poo on those who chose to stay and campaign to improve human rights in Ireland.

    2. Clampers Outside!

      Yes Sheila, please read Vera’s comment.

      Or, better yet, tell us what country yo are in, and I’m sure you’ll find plenty wrong with it in comparison to Ireland. No country has got it all right, not even the Nodics.

    1. classter

      The ability to easily & clearly distinguish between the past & continuous past tenses is one the strengths of Hiberno-English.

  15. Betty

    Anthony Finucane said it very well and spoke for many of us, I think. Prop Joe also had a point. Would not have 109 ‘+1’s’ (not comments) have been kinder, meant more, and perhaps have been more poignant than the score pointing that is now in the comments sections (obvious exceptions therein). A desperate and heartbreaking commentary from a commendable lady ( and couple), I earnestly hope the comments here have not upset you further.

    1. Vera from d'country

      Betty,
      This is a public open anonymous comments section on a magazine blog.
      The story was not shared with the site it was reprinted from elsewhere to stir up debate. The same thing happens whenever a story like this is posted.
      The only amazing thing is that most of the comments here are from good kind compassionate people who want the best for any couple in Ireland who find themselves in this situation.

Comments are closed.

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