Dail grapples with State’s treatment of women

Good morning, and happy International Women’s Day.

Yesterday the Dáil grappled with the reality of Ireland's treatment of women and children in the past; the Taoiseach, speaking from a script, was particularly eloquent on the Tuam baby burials, evoking memories of his celebrated Cloyne speech.

Today, Dail business begins earlier than usual with a motion on the Grace commission, which will investigate if some children – entrusted to the care of the State – were instead grievously betrayed. Those alleged crimes against women and children occurred much more recently.

Although there are differences between the parties in Leinster House on the approach to the investigation of these issues – Labour will press for a broadening of the Grace investigation this morning, and Clare Daly and Mick Wallace demanded the same last night – the desire to find out the truth in both cases stretches across the Government-Opposition divide.

‘Tuam people shouldn’t feel guilty ... it’s a national issue’

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Miriam Lord: Kenny’s fine words too familiar for comfort

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‘No record to indicate’ remains found at Tuam site in 1970s

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Kathy Sheridan: Tuam baby burials suggest an insidious agenda

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The same cannot be said on another issue that returned to the Dail last night – abortion.

The Dáil debated another Private Members' Bill on abortion from the Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit last night, though it will not vote until tomorrow.

The Bill, sponsored by TD Brid Smith, seeks to amend the criminal sanction for illegal abortions from potentially 14 years in prison to a €1 fine. It will be overwhelmingly defeated, though not before it caused another flap in the Cabinet.

As Fiach Kelly reports this morning, four of Minister for Children Katherine Zappone's female Cabinet colleagues disagreed sharply with the Minister at yesterday's Cabinet meeting when she declined to agree a Cabinet position rejecting the latest abortion Bill.

They told her the Bill would help abusive partners, rather than pregnant women, a position also advanced by the Taoiseach in the Dail later, to the derision of the Bill’s promoters.

Incidentally, in the pantheon of villains identified by the AAA's Ruth Coppinger on the issue, we were somewhat startled to find The Irish Times, which has apparently been secretly campaigning for a conservative position on abortion. To put it mildly, this is not something of which we have often been accused.

Zappone has sought further advice from the Attorney General; it is not anticipated the position on the Bill will change. Either way, it will be defeated tomorrow.

As marches, strikes and demonstrations will show today, abortion remains one of the great unresolved issues for this Government (though there are contrary views, including Larissa Nolan's).

And not just at Cabinet. As last week's Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll showed, there is a big chunk of the public that favours reform but is cautious, at the very least, about liberalisation of Ireland's strict anti-abortion laws.

That a great majority of people favour relaxing the very strict ban currently in place deeply worries the anti-abortion lobby, which sees an inevitable slide towards much greater availability of abortion in Ireland.

That the public appears clearly opposed to moving to that position right now is frustrating to those who believe access to abortion is a human right.

Politicians speak a lot about the middle ground on the subject. They are hoping the Citizen’s Assembly will locate it for them. Our political system is becoming expert at fudging big decisions, but this one can’t be fudged forever..