Martin’s stance not tenable - Abortion debate

AS the celebrations marking the centenary of one of the seminal events in the foundation of this evolving Republic begin to wind down, we must consider how we might mark the Civil War that followed without renewing the deep divisions that made that great tragedy inevitable. 

Both sides in that war committed acts of savagery so shocking that it took several generations for the scars to close. Even at this remove, it seems that in the darkest corners of some Irish hearts, an ever-declining number thankfully, the animosity of nearly a century ago lies latent, ready to open old wounds and try to renew a long-settled conflict.

Over the weekend we had another engagement, another laying down of a marker, in our ongoing, second civil war. Fortunately, this is a cultural civil war, not a military one, but it is as bitter, as divisive as any civil war. The Catholic Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin, speaking about the probability that the eighth amendment to the Constitution, which underpins limiting abortion laws, will be revisited, said that his Church would call on politicians “not to leave their Catholic faith outside of the door when it came to issues of public policy”.