Dáil protest organiser ‘was not politically motivated’

MONICA Rowe, who organised yesterday’s Dáil protest, said she did not belong to any political grouping, nor did she intend to.

“I am just a concerned mum who was not happy with the situation and wanted to do something about it,” she said.

Ms Rowe also insisted that the stance she had taken was not politically motivated — she had no political leanings at all, she said.

“I would not be far right or far left, I am really all over the place,” she said.

Ms Rowe is self-employed, and lives in Cabinteely, Dublin, with her husband and 13-year-old son.

On Wednesday, she rang the Gerry Ryan Show to say that she did not care what everyone else was doing, she intended being outside the Dáil on Friday. She was delighted, however, when thousands of people decided to join her yesterday.

“People feel so strongly about this. If someone as ordinary as myself can achieve this, then the Government needs to do something,” she said.

And, she said, the Government needed to do more than close off a legal loophole.

“The Government must tackle the whole are of sexual abuse and turn it on its head,” she said.

She also called for the appointment of an independent body of experts to review the Constitution.

“I will be back with my family tonight and will wait and see what happens. It is not down to me or the people any more. It is down to the Government now. They know what the people are looking for and need to move now,” she said.