Anti-abortion group walks out after row erupts

A ROW erupted between an anti-abortion group and a powerful Oireachtas Committee yesterday amid allegations that almost 9,000 of the group’s submissions had been destroyed.

The Mother and Child Campaign group made the allegation and then walked out of the third day of the public hearings on family rights being held by the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution.

But committee chairman Deputy Denis O’Donovan rejected the claim and accused the Mother and Child Campaign of subjecting his staff to “all types of harassment”.

“This is the box that they delivered to our offices - there were 1,322 submissions in it,” Mr O’Donovan said. He rejected the claim that his staff tried to suppress documents.

“To suggest that we destroyed them (the submissions) is absolutely ludicrous - this is the only group that has claimed we are trying to dismantle the Constitution, the only people who can dismantle the Constitution are the people of this country through a vote,” Mr O’Donovan added.

He was responding to Mother and Child Campaign spokesman Dr Sean O’Domhnaill, who said they had made 20,000 submissions to the committee’s offices before the public hearing, with 9,244 submissions delivered in a box personally by their members to the committee’s offices.

But the committee is only admitting to receiving 8,000 submissions in total from all organisations, Dr O’ Domhnaill said.

“It is absolutely impossible that this committee cannot account for our submissions,” he added.

Mother and Child Campaign members were yesterday swearing affidavits before legal representatives that they had made these 20,000 submissions, Dr O’Domhnaill said.

And he accused all political parties of wanting to “dismantle” the 1937 Constitution, which protects the rights of mothers and children.

“From the public statements made by political members we believe this process is a farce with a predetermined outcome,” Dr O’Domhnaill told the public hearing.

He said because they refuse to acknowledge the views of the group members, they would have no further engagement with the committee.

The group’s walkout prompted an angry reaction from several other committee members. Fianna Fáil Senator Brendan Daly said their presentation was tantamount to “incitement to hatred”.

Fine Gael Senator Michael Finucane accused the group of staging a publicity stunt.

“Their document is inflammatory and they are caught in the time warp of the 1937 Constitution,” Mr Finucane said.

Progressive Democrat Senator John Dardis rejected the claim that the committee was trying to dismantle the Constitution and said the group’s utterances were objectionable.