Better to light a scented candle than curse the darkness of Leinster House

Dublin vigilFor older people, there was a weary familiarity about a march on abortion

They lit candles in the abortion capital of Ireland and stood in silent protest. But it was a small gathering in London.

Dublin was different.

Saturday’s “March for Savita” was a solemn occasion – tinged with sorrow at the death of a young woman and suffused with anger at the failure of successive Irish governments to legislate on abortion.

It’s been 20 years since the Supreme Court handed down judgment in the X case, but politicians have dodged their responsibility to act on it.

And it’s 30 years since a poisonous referendum campaign (on both sides) ended with a constitutional ban on abortion.

What has changed over those years? Nothing much.

The arguments grind on, the marchers march, the legislators ignore and the furtive trips by Irish women to English clinics continue.

But the candles are classier.

On Saturday, when winter darkness fell and the temperature dropped, an unmistakable scent of summer hung in the air around the Dáil.

Pleasing pockets of fragrance punctuated the long lines of people moving slowly towards Leinster House, hints of lavender and vanilla and rose wafting up from flickering candles cupped in cold hands.

That’s women for ya, as a certain former taoiseach might say.

But this wasn’t only a women’s march, even if the floral nature of many flames added a feminine note to the candelight vigil.

The crowd mustered in late afternoon. The turnout looked poor, made up of what seasoned protest observers might call “the usual suspects”.

Some took the opportunity to hand out flyers for this weekend’s austerity protest.

But after the appointed hour, people suddenly converged on Cavendish Row in great numbers, with homemade placards and candles, children and buggies and dogs in tow.

For older people preparing to march, there was a weary familiarity about this event – been there, done that, admired the slogans decades ago . . .

“Am I going to have to do this again when I’m 50?” was the question on one young woman’s placard; “20 years later and we’re still protesting” proclaimed another, held by a girl wearing a hat with furry ears on it and surrounded by her furry-hatted friends. They were barely out of their teens.

The march moved off in driving rain, the crowd swelling all the time.

Vickey Curtis from Dublin 7 was with 15 friends, all wearing headbands displaying a large letter X.

“I thought of Savita and what happened to her, and I thought about the X case. If it was any of us, we’d just be deemed another X too. We want to show unity and want to call for change.”

A man in a bobble hat walked along, holding up a piece of cardboard. It read: “My mother is a woman.” There was a quietness about onlookers along the route. Perhaps it was the sight of the large coloured banners. Made by NCAD students, they featured a stylised image of Savita Halappanavar’s face.

Chris Murray waved a painted paper lantern on a stick. “My children, Jack and Ruby, made this on St Martin’s Day last weekend – it’s a German festival. I’m meeting them on Kildare Street and you’ll see us all holding up our lanterns.”

“Never again! Never again!” chanted the marchers.

Trinity College students Alison Connolly (Dublin), Tara Roche (Galway) and Clare Kealey (Dublin) were part of a 30-strong group.

“Woman Up and Legislate!” demanded Alison’s placard. Tara carried a scented candle in a glass. “And I’ve brought my mom,” said Clare.

The mom, Bernie, held a candle (pomegranate fragrance) in a little ceramic bowl. “My daughter Anna is in America and would love to be here. She sent me this candle and asked me to carry it for her today,” she said. Kathleen Lynch, from UCD and “a proud Clare woman”, marched with her daughter Nora (24), along with Kathleen’s golden labradors, Poppy and Bonnie.

The light faded significantly by the time we got to Grafton Street and the candles came into their own.

When the head of the protest reached the gates of Leinster House, people were still rounding College Green. There were speeches from the back of a truck and the crowd cheered when a turnout of up to 20,000 was announced.

Gráinne Griffin (24) from the Choice Network ran out of candles. “I had about 500 in the bag and I thought I’d be ages giving them away. But they went in no time,” she said.

“I’m here because I’m furious. I’m just so angry.” It was dark and circles of white lights now framed the images of Savita on the banners.

Gráinne pointed towards them. “People haven’t been listened to for 20 years and this is what it’s led to.” In her impassioned address, ULA deputy Clare Daly castigated Taoiseach Enda Kenny for saying he would not be rushed into a decision. “He sat in the Dáil for over 30 years while 150,000 Irish women were exported out of here. . . to maintain the hypocrisy that there are no Irish abortions.”

When speakers made political points, it was abundantly clear that the crowd wasn’t interested. Attempts to start a “Shame on Labour” chant went nowhere.

A minute’s silence was observed in memory of Savita. The only sound was the rasping of flints as candles were lit.

The crowd dispersed and the flames were extinguished. A bright light glowed above the main entrance to Leinster House.

But the building was in darkness and the doors were closed. And it remains to be seen whether all those touchingly optimistic girls in their furry-eared hats will still be marching when they are 50 – assisting the cynical 80-year-olds to light their candles so they don’t set fire to themselves in frustration.