Universities
Although Youth Defence has been active for many years at third level, during 2001 a new initiative, Ultrasound, was launched by YD members in Ireland's colleges and universities. Ultrasound college events, which include speaking tours and film screenings, have packed ‘em in on campuses around Ireland. Gianna Jessen's speaking tour was a huge hit, while the pro-life movie Bella was screened to full houses.
Brian Kemp during the Ultrasound film screening
Ultrasound materials are designed for third-level students, and more than 45,000 packs have been given out on campus. While Ultrasound remains popular with students, it meets resistance from those great democrats in the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) who are first to call for pro-life events to be banned at any given opportunity. This resentment is mostly because Ultrasound point out that USI has officially held a pro-abortion policy since 1997, a position which is not representative of the majority of students.
Dublin City University
They also inform students that a considerable portion of their registration fees go towards USI - a union which students are compelled to join, though the vast majority of said students neither like nor care about USI. In fact, like everyone else, we'd be 100% certain that if you asked 100 students would they rather pay their USI annual membership fee or spend the money on beer, 99 would shout "beer".
