Sir, - In all the Church-State controversy at the moment it was most encouraging to read, in your edition of May 28th, Bishop Finnegan's call to offer pregnant women in difficult situations "a truly life-giving choice". As he said, "the only form of capital punishment allowed by the Irish Courts" now is abortion and I sincerely hope that the referendum will show our people's abhorrence of the death penalty by eliminating it from our Constitution.
Here's hoping that the democratic wish of the Irish people will no longer be ignored and that a referendum on this matter of life and death will be offered immediately. How much longer can this Government ignore the wishes of the people on the matter of abortion? How much longer can it delay the implementation of the assistance required for those who have unwanted pregnancies?
There is no evidence of any demand for the referendum being on June 7th. There is plenty of evidence that a referendum on abortion is desired. Surely a contradiction here. - Yours, etc.,
Mrs Mary Stewart, Ardeskin, Donegal Town.