Boris Johnson meets with DUP Leader Arlene Foster at Stormont Parliament in Belfast. Pic: Niall Carson
Arlene Foster has said that the DUP will “always speak up for the unborn child” as she has warned that despite recent legislation being passed at Westminster, abortion reform is not a done deal in Northern Ireland.
On the same day that the DUP leader met with newly elected British Prime Minster Boris Johnson, Mrs. Foster released a statement saying that “abortion is one issue where alliances have developed across the main traditions in the community”.
A DUP spokesperson has confirmed that in recent weeks Mrs. Foster has received over 5,000 emails, letters and petitions from constituents who have voiced their concern over the introduction of abortion measures in Northern Ireland.
A landmark vote was taken in Westminster in July aimed at implementing abortion and same sex marriage legislation in Northern Ireland by 21 October this year.
The caveat to the legislation is that it will not come into law if the Northern Ireland Executive has been re-established by that date.
“I remain determined to reach an agreement that will restore the Northern Ireland Executive. Therefore there will be no requirement for the implementation of the Northern Ireland Executive Formation Bill,” Mrs. Foster said.
She said that the “drastic approach” taken by the passing of this legislation at Westminster “would be unacceptable for Northern Ireland and leave no effective legal framework in place”.
Mrs. Foster also stated that her party’s confidence and supply agreement “does not extend to abortion”.
“The Conservative Party does not whip their MPs on this matter,” she said.
Ms Foster also said that there has been a development of cross community “alliances” on the issue of abortion.
“As the Party Leader, I feel that abortion is one issue where alliances have developed across the main traditions in the community. As I have been indicating, research by the Both Lives Matter campaign highlights that at least 100,000 people are alive in Northern Ireland today who wouldn’t have been if the 1967 Act had been extended here.”
The DUP leader is adamant that decisions on abortion should be taken be elected representatives from Northern Ireland and said that her commitment is to see the restoration of power to Stormont:
“I remain determined to reach an agreement that will restore the Northern Ireland Executive. Therefore there will be no requirement for the implementation of the Northern Ireland Executive Formation Bill. We strongly believe that it should be elected representatives from Northern Ireland, taking decisions on issues of life and the protection of the unborn child.”
Ms Foster also spoke about the concern that has been voiced to her by constituents.
“Over the past week I have received a huge number of emails and private messages of concern about the legislation being passed via Westminster that would introduce abortion measures here in Northern Ireland. I wish to personally thank each of you for your correspondence on an issue that is causing great concern and worry within our constituency. The DUP have consistently advocated a strong pro-life position. We will always speak up for the unborn child.”
The family of hunger striker Kevin Lynch has cut all ties with Sinn Fein and accused one of the party’s senior figures of dancing on the graves of the men who died.
It follows a row over a band named after Lynch appearing at a weekend commemoration.
Less than a day after party members stood alongside the Lynch family in Dungiven to commemorate the anniversary of his death, Sinn Fein MLA Raymond McCartney visited Mr Lynch’s sister to tell her the band named in memory of her brother was not welcome at a commemoration in Strabane – or any future Sinn Fein event. The band said this is because it had marched with dissident republican bands in Scotland recently.
Thousands of republicans attended Sunday’s national hunger strike commemoration in the Co Tyrone town. The Lynch family boycotted the event and removed all artefacts belonging to the former INLA prisoner who died in the Maze prison on August 1, 1981 from Sinn Fein’s Dungiven office.
A source close to the family said: “Kevin’s sister has been left deeply upset by all of this, the whole family have because it came out of the blue. The commemoration for Kevin went ahead in Dungiven as it does every year, but then Raymond McCartney called to the house and told Kevin’s sister and brother that the band wasn’t welcome at the hunger strike commemoration in Strabane. He said it was a decision taken by the bands association and not Sinn Fein, but he was there doing their work, so Kevin’s sister knew it was Sinn Fein.
“The family were deeply disappointed that Raymond McCartney agreed to deliver this message because they felt as a hunger striker himself he’d have known the hurt he caused them.
“Kevin’s family were also hurt by Sinn Fein in Dungiven, who clearly knew this was going to happen because the meeting with Raymond McCartney was supposed to take place before Kevin’s commemoration, but they got it put back.
“The family have removed everything belonging to Kevin from the Sinn Fein office in Dungiven and will have nothing more to do with them.”
The family also hit out at Sinn Fein MEP Martina Anderson dancing in a street in Strabane during the commemoration. Declan McGuinness, brother of the late Martin McGuinness, also voiced his disgust at Ms Anderson’s antics, describing them as “stratospherically beyond inappropriate” on social media.
The Lynch family source added: “I know that Kevin’s family thinks Martina Anderson dancing at the commemorations was the most totally inappropriate thing they ever saw and were sickened by it. They said it looked like she was dancing on the graves of all the hunger strikers.”
Foyle MLA Mr McCartney declined to comment.
A Sinn Fein spokesman said: “This was an issue between the bands association and the Kevin Lynch band. Sinn Fein worked to attempt to resolve the issue. We hold the Lynch family in the highest esteem and we deeply regret the family’s decision.”
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On August 6, 1775, Daniel O’Connell , ‘The Liberator,’ one of the most influential men in Irish history was born near Cahirciveen, County Kerry. Raised by his uncle, Daniel learned the Irish language and Irish lore in Kerry. O’Connell did part of his schooling in France during the revolution and later practiced law in Dublin. The violent excesses he witnessed in France, the slaughter of the ’98 Rising and finally his own killing a man in a duel in 1815 led him to renounce violence forever. Moving into politics, O’Connell founded the Catholic Association in 1823, creating one of the first massive political movements in Europe or the Americas. When he was elected to Parliament in 1828, a position still forbidden to a Catholic, fear of the reaction of his millions of followers led to the passage of the Catholic Emancipation Bill. O’Connell worked for Home Rule for Ireland for the rest of his days but never achieved it. The British banned his mass Repeal (of the Union) rallies in ’43 and jailed him for a time. The movement lost momentum at that point and the long years of hard work wore ‘The Liberator’ down. He died in Italy on May 15, 1847. Daniel O’Connell had failed in his greatest ambition, but he had reawakened the nationalist soul of Ireland.
