As someone who has carried a tiny white coffin out of Holles Street, I can attest to the anguish caused by the wilful insensitivity of the protestors who assembled there on New Years Day.

Health Minister Simon Harris has launched a blistering attack on anti-abortion protesters outside the National Maternity Hospital, saying their actions were “intimidating, sickening and anti-democratic.”

Health Minister Simon Harris has said he is pressing ahead with plans to introduce exclusion zones around maternity hospitals after tweeting that he was “appalled” at new video images of a New Year’s Day protest outside the National Maternity Hospital.

Independent TD Noel Grealish has been accused of "disgraceful racism" after raising questions in the Dáil around money being sent home by migrants.

The group says that it will base itself across the road from the hospital from 7am to 7pm from September 25 to November 6.

A Dublin woman has given birth in the back of her father's taxi while on route to the hospital.

The Minister for Health is promising exclusion zones outside hospitals will be a "major priority" when the Dáil returns from its break in September.

It was 1984. The country had just voted two-to-one to pass the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution to prohibit legal abortion, except when a woman’s life was in danger.

A 13-year old boy who had sued over the circumstances of his birth at the National Maternity Hospital, Dublin has settled his High Court case for €7.25million.

Fianna Fáil's Health spokesperson Stephen Donnelly has said that the Minister for Health needs to ensure that an investigation into the case of a woman whose pregnancy was terminated because of a misleading test result is completely independent and is conducted by experts.

They didn’t vote for the trebling of abortions, for the refusal of pain relief for babies, nor for the proviso that doctors who refuse to comply must refer the mother on to one who will, writes Cora Sherlock.

So that’s nearly Thursday wrapped up. Here’s some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

A couple who terminated their pregnancy after a series of tests wrongly suggested the presence of a fatal foetal abnormality have called on the Minister for Health to intervene and establish an independent inquiry into their case.

An independent review into the circumstances of an abortion at the National Maternity Hospital is to be carried out, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has confirmed to the Dáil.

A couple who terminated their pregnancy after a test suggested the presence of a fatal foetal abnormality want an inquest to take place.

Health Minister Simon Harris has said an appropriate external review is warranted into the controversy over a pregnancy termination at the National Maternity Hospital.

A couple have been left devastated after aborting their baby because tests showed that it had a fatal foetal abnormality - only for a subsequent test after the abortion to show that it did not.

So that’s Thursday nearly wrapped up. Here’s some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

Baby Luke Cox Coghlan was born at the National Maternity Hospital on Holles Street in Dublin on 6.05am on December 28, 2016. He was pronounced dead less than half an hour later despite efforts to save his life.

Hospitals in the south of the country were still awaiting “the promised staffing and resources” needed to provide abortion a day before the service was introduced.

Though advised by medics to start their family in their 20s, many women often feel judged for having children before establishing their career or going on a world tour. Sharon Ní Chonchúir talks to three young mothers about the pros and cons

Kerry mother Emma Mhic Mhathúna and her five children who sued over CervicalCheck smears have settled their legal action for €7.5m.

A Dublin couple who gave up their baby boy for adoption when they were teenagers have found him again, 36 years later.

Let down yet again, ageing survivors of the Magdalene laundries have suffered unnecessary pain in the past few years, writes Claire McGettrick.

Just what is going on?

The Supreme Court has refused to hear a further appeal by Priory Hall developer Thomas McFeely over the near five-year extension of his bankruptcy.

Not bad RTÉ, not bad.

Ireland is at risk of having to pay compensation to thousands of women forced to travel abroad to receive an abortion unless the law is immediately changed to make the procedure legal and easily accessible.

Irish doctors should be allowed to perform abortions in cases of “fatal or complex foetal abnormalities” without the threat of being sent to jail, says the head of one of Ireland’s biggest maternity hsopitals.

Ironically, Robert E. Lee would have been against sculptures of himself in full military gear, writes Terry Prone

The parents of baby Finn put their faith in the doctors at Temple Street after they learnt their boy’s skull would be disfigured without surgery, writes Jen Hogan.

Latest: The National Maternity Hospital has denied cutting contact with the husband of a woman who died during surgery.

Neonatal care has come a long way in a short time, says Sharon Ní Chonchúir.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has supported Health Minister Simon Harris in his call for “breathing space” to resolve the new national maternity hospital crisis, saying talks are needed to put in place a “legally waterproof situation”.

A 15-year old boy who suffered brain damage at birth has settled his High Court action for €7million.

The Department of Health’s secretary general failed to tell Health Minister Simon Harris of serious concerns over the independence of the new national maternity hospital when they were raised in May 2016.

Health Minister Simon Harris is seeking a one-month national maternity hospital reprieve in a bid to rescue the crisis-hit project from the brink of collapse.

Latest: Dr Rhona Mahony, Master of the National Maternity Hospital, has released a statement.

Almost one in seven mothers who gave birth at Cork University Maternity Hospital last year experienced what is classified as a “clinical incident”.

An increasing number of women are having babies later in life, but many face an uphill battle to get pregnant, says Helen O’Callaghan.

A 6-year-old boy who is severely brain damaged has settled for €5.5m his action against the National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, over his care when he was brought to the hospital at eight days old and later diagnosed with meningitis.

The vascular surgeon involved in an emergency operation to save a pregnant woman’s life will be a key witness at an inquest into her death.