Thousands pack Rally for Life to decry government policy as "aborting Ireland's future"

Thousands have attended a pro-life rally in Dublin today urging the government to take action on "spiralling abortion rates" - with organisers saying that housing, cultural failures, and a lack of support for women are factors in the soaring numbers of abortions and a collapsing birth rate. 

  

Holding placards and flags saying "Life Will Win", and "Stop Aborting Our Future", the crowd marched from Parnell Square to Custom House Quay where they heard from speakers. 

Spokeswoman Sandra Parda said that figures released earlier this year show that, to the end of February 2025, more than 50,000 abortions have taken place in Ireland, which she described as a "grim and heartbreaking new record". 

Ms Parda said that the "failure to offer supports to women and to families is leading to spiralling abortion rates while the government turns a blind eye and instead simply focuses endlessly on abortion access". 

"The number of abortions jumped immediately to 6,666 in 2019 - but have now soared to more than 10,000 in 2024, although voters were assured during the 2018 referendum that abortion would be "rare" by leading campaigners including the then Taoiseach," Ms Parda said.  

"We're at a point where abortions rates are soaring and birth rates are collapsing, yet the government is keeping no real data on why this is happening," she added. "These policies - and this wilful indifference - is literally aborting Ireland's future. The government needs to understand what's driving women towards abortion and how we are failing both mother and child by too-often making abortion the only option." 

She said that 10,000 abortions a year was clearly a factor in the collapse in birth rates - with 7,000 fewer births in 2024 than in 2018, the year abortion was legalised. "We're being warned now that we won't have enough people to pay for pensions, and that we need to boost immigration to build our workforce, yet the government and the media continues to turn a blind eye to the fact that we are literally aborting our own future and failing mothers and babies," she said. 

The All-Ireland Rally for Life is billed as a colourful celebration of Life - with the biggest pro-life event of the year taking place annually in Dublin and now in its 19th year. 

Statistics from the Department of Health showed that 6,666 abortions took place in 2019, with a further 6,577 in 2020, while 6,700 abortions occurred in Ireland in 2021. The number of abortions jumped to 8,156 in 2022 and then shot up again to 10,033 in 2023 - while date released to Carol Nolan TD shows that 10,441 payments for abortions were made to GPs in 2024. The final total for abortions in 2024 is expected to rise by two hundred or more, given that this is the average number of abortions carried out in hospitals in Ireland each year. The data released to Deputy Nolan also showed that at least 1,742 abortions took place in January and February of 2025. 

Those figures mean that more than 50,000 abortions have taken place since 2019. 

Ms Parda said: "This is an issue the media want to ignore, but how can we be blind to 50,000 lives ended in just over 6 years," she said. "That's more than the total population of Longford. It represents more than 100 schools or thousands of classes of children. It's part of Ireland's future growth and development and innovation ended before birth." 

Amongst this year's speakers were Aontú's Paul Lawless TD, who said that "no mother in Ireland should ever feel she has to abort her child because the government will not support her. That is a government with no interest in humanity".

Dr Haywood Robinson, a former abortionist who now seeks to bring the public and medical professionals to a deeper understanding of the harm caused by abortion, travelled from the US to address the Rally. He said that abortion was not healthcare because one of the people entitled to care and protection - the unborn child - was being killed, and urged those providing abortion to think how they could better care for women. 

Bernadette Smyth of Precious Life said they would continue to "work to replace abortion facilities with life-affirming centres that treat women and their children with dignity and respect.

Vicky Wall said that those working with families where the baby had a life-limiting condition had a message for Ireland and the world. "Every baby deserves dignity. Every family deserves support. And every life - no matter how short - counts.We will not stay silent when parents cry out for hope.Together, we will build a culture where no parent feels pressured to abort, and every child is welcomed and loved." 

Barrister Grace Sullivan, in a rallying cry to women, said the Rally sought to defend their right to support in pregnancy. She slammed recent legislation saying, "Those who promote and ringfence abortion claim to stand for the rights of women. But why is it tell me, that the so called “safe access zones” legislation does not have the curtesy to mention the word woman once amongst its provisions?".

The All-Ireland Rally for Life meets every year in Parnell Square before marching to Custom House Quay in a colourful display of banners and flags.

The Rally is organised by Life Institute and Precious Life and is supported by 40 local pro-life groups. 

   

   

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More information on the Rally is available here