Alan Newman

The spectacle of @paulmurphy_TD scrambling to back-pedal in recent days has been fascinating to watch. Now that the reality of his recent abortion bill is widely understood - that it would allow abortion on request right up to the moment of birth - Deputy Murphy is obscuring the bill’s intent with claims of “misinformation” and carefully chosen healthcare rhetoric. Anyone who has read the bill can see it explicitly calls for the decriminalisation of abortion, removing any remaining legal protection for the unborn child. Thankfully, a majority of TDs were not fooled and voted to stop it progressing. If Deputy Murphy believes unborn babies are entitled to any legal protection, now is the time for him to say so - and to state clearly where he draws that line. In more than a decade in the Dáil, he has never identified circumstances in which he believes unborn babies should be protected. Given that over 60,000 abortions have occurred in Ireland since 2019, our collective focus should be on reducing abortion numbers - not on pushing legislation that would guarantee further increases and throw the door open to late-term abortions, resulting in a disturbing escalation in disregard for human life.

IMPOSE TOI 🟢🟡 An impressive win for the well backed favourite, @sevenbarrows and @NdeBoinville 🥇 @AintreeRaces

You voted for this commission @fiannafailparty and @FineGael Now they're doing as they said. Signing up to MERCOSUR. Shameful.