Ireland will tomorrow vote on whether to remove a restriction on abortion from its constitution, a decision which is going to have an international impact outside of the country.
The political ructions following the referendum are going to be keenly felt in Northern Ireland, which has its own laws that only permit abortion if a woman’s life is at stake.
On Monday, however, the leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a party which says it is “pro-life” and has traditionally been supported by Catholics, announced his support for a “yes” vote in the forthcoming vote.
Colum Eastwood’s decision was greeted with “confusion” by the party’s former leader, Alasdair McDonnell, while others believe it has left Catholics without a party to represent them north of the border.
The SDLP’s leader announcement came after the SDLP had voted to both affirm their “pro-life” stance, but at the same time allow members to vote with their consciences against the party’s stance.
“Mr Eastwood has the task of squaring the circle of being pro-life and allowing for the direct and intentional ending of life for someone who has a right to life,” Dr Gaven Kerr, an academic and member of the Dominican Order, wrote in a response for the Christian think tank, the Iona Institute
“Whether he can square the circle is Mr Eastwood’s affair (I don’t think he can), but what is clear is that his position is confused and that his thinking on this matter does not merit to be called pro-life.”
Founded in 1970 by a group of politicians including Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume, the SDLP was one of the most popular nationalist parties in Northern Ireland during the troubles. Standing in the tradition of centre-left Christian Democratic values, it advocated a united Ireland through non-violent and constitutional means.
In recent years, however, it has lost significant political support largely due to the growth in popularity of Sinn Féin, the other republican party in the north but which backed the Provisional IRA and the use of violence during the troubles.
The decline of the SDLP, however, and its break with traditional “pro-life” principles has led some Catholics – including priests – in the north to consider supporting Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) due to the firm anti-abortion stance. This is a dramatic shift given that the DUP’s founder, the late Rev Ian Paisley, was renowned for his anti-Catholic rhetoric and heckled Pope St. John Paul II during the former Pope’s speech at the European Parliament in 1988.
“There are some Catholics and nationalists who have always voted SDLP who find that the DUP reflect their implacable opposition to abortion in a way no nationalist party does,” Martin O’Brien, a journalist and former Editor of the Irish News, a nationalist newspaper in the north. “They are angry at the SDLP retreating from their traditional pro-life position.”
Mr O’Brien added that many Catholics are in a “bind”. To vote for a unionist party, he explained, would be a “renouncing of their Irish nationalist identity” while they see the DUP as failing to respect their Irish culture and the narrative of the troubles.
“The party has endorsed principles of pro-life and last Saturday a motion was passed upholding its long held pro-life position which also held principle of a conscientious vote to introduce or amend the legislation that went against that,” Sean Farren, a former Chairman of the SDLP who was a minister in the Northern Ireland power sharing executive, explained.
“There is an apparent contradiction, but life is full of contradictions.”
He stressed that the SDLP was still a party for Catholics, that many other political parties in Europe opted to make abortion a conscience question for members and maintained he was still strongly pro-life.
When the Pope travels to Ireland he will come to a country that has undergone a major shift in social attitudes since St John Paul II was greeted by crowds reaching more than a million and a church still a major player in Irish public life.
40 years on and the country has introduced same-sex marriage legislation, legalised divorce and is now preparing to loosen restrictions on abortion. On Friday voters are being asked whether they wish to remove what is known as the “Eighth Amendment” of the constitution which puts the right to life of the unborn on equal footing with the right to the life of the mother.
All this is being debated as the Church’s credibility has been battered by the clerical sexual abuse scandals. While the Irish bishops have urged a “no” vote they have not been on the front line of the debate while the Holy See has said nothing.
Despite a tarnished reputation, the role of the Church still plays an important role in maintaining the social fabric and identity of the country.
In the north, which the Pope is not due to visit during his time in Ireland, it was the Christian churches who played a behind the scenes role in helping to end violence which had religious undertones.
This week marked 20 years since the Good Friday agreement, the peace deal which has largely brought an end to the violence in Northern Ireland and a model for reconciliation across the world.
A discussion hosted by the British and Irish Embassies to the Holy See to mark this anniversary heard how the church leaders could do more in Northern Ireland to help safeguard the achievements of the agreement.
It included the Catholic Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin and the Anglican Primate of All-Ireland, Richard Clarke. Also present was Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican foreign minister, Baroness (Nuala) O’Loan, first Police Ombudsman in Northern Ireland, and members of the British and Irish Good Friday negotiating teams.
The seminar heard that Church leaders could work more closely with political leaders to preserve peace in the north, and help resolve ongoing divisions.
While the reconciliation achieved by the Good Friday agreement could not be underestimated, it was pointed out during the discussions that Brexit has challenged a foundational principle of the agreement, namely an open border between north and south. There are also fears that for 17 months there has been no functioning government in Belfast
Some expressed disappointment that the Pope will not travel to Northern Ireland when he goes to Dublin for the World Meeting of Families. It is, however, predicted that he will make mention of the peace gains secured by the Good Friday deal.
Baroness Nuala O’Loan, Northern Ireland’s first Police Ombudsman and a Catholic, said she would like Francis to visit, particularly given the violence of the past and the continued need for reconciliation.
“I think if the Church leaders and our politicians could see a way of coming together and welcoming the Pope, that simple act of reconciliation would be very iconic and would show our political parties working together for the common good,” she said.
It might also be a symbol of a new engagement by the Church in politics both in Northern Ireland and in the Irish Republic.
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