Miss Ireland ‘must protest stoning’

AMNESTY International has said Ireland’s representative at this year’s Miss World contest should withdraw instead of ignoring human rights issues in Nigeria.

Miss Ireland Lynda Duffy, 22, has refused to take a stand against Nigeria’s Islamic Sharia law, which allows women be sentenced to death by stoning, despite repeated calls.

A number of contestants have withdrawn from the competition in protest over the plight of Amina Lawal, a 31-year-old single mother who has gone into hiding while awaiting a second appeal against her death sentence.