This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.

Learn more Got it!
youth defence

History: 2013

Unite for life Pro-Life Vigil

19th January 2013 on a freezing cold day, 30,000 people gathered at Merrion Square to tell Enda Kenny to the promise he made to the electorate not to legalise abortion.

A highlight of the massive Vigil was when Dr Eoghan de Faoite of Youth Defence phoned  Enda Kenny live from the event, and 30,000 people chorused a message for an Taoiseach to 'keep his pro-life promise'.

The massive pro-life event went quiet as Dr de Faoite called an Taoiseach's constituency office, and Enda's voice could be heard asking the caller to leave a message.

   








Don't follow Britain's failures

With the Labour Party wanting to follow the British model of abortion, which sees 200,000 babies killed each year and rising, and Enda Kenny in hot pursuit of the Labour agenda, a campaign was initiated to warn of the failures of Britain and those who follow their model. Abortion for any reason, at any time and paid for by you the taxpayer. Is this really what we want for Ireland?


Kill the Billl. Not the child

With the Coalition's abortion bill getting the backing of the media and all the political and business establishment, our efforts increase to inform people of this unjust law. Billboards, demonstrations, leaflet drops, newspaper adverts and daily street information sessions are the order of the day now for the past six months.

Billboard and poster campaign against abortion legislation



Advert in local papers

Protesting at Dáil Éireann 

We had a trek beaten down to this place, constantly protesting, meeting with sympathetic policiticians, politicians who admitted to us that they were bullied by the top guys in Fine Gael and of course, those who are in favour of denying little children their lives. Them ones are really unpleasant.


Protesting at Irish Embassies around the world

Pro-life activists have staged witnesses outside Irish embassies in London and Washington DC in support of the Irish people who are under threat of having abortion legislation being undemocratically foisted on them. Earlier, protests were also held at Boston College to draw attention to the decision of the Catholic college to honour Enda Kenny despite his decision to introduce abortion.

In London, Andy Stephenson of Abort67 said “We are here in support of the Irish people who have rejected abortion in three separate referenda in recent years. The British nation saw a similar situation in 1967, when abortion was legalised by the parliament, not the people, on supposedly restrictive grounds. The architect of that legislation – Lord David Steele – later commented that ‘he never envisaged so many abortions’. We hope that Enda Kenny may never have to reiterate those sentiments; but his proposed legislation opens the door to abortion on demand. Similar ‘restrictive grounds’ here in Britain now result in 200,000 abortions a year.”


Rally for Life Dublin

6th July 2013 saw the biggest pro-life event ever held in Ireland. 60,000 people walked through the city centre and up to Dáil Éireann, the week before the abortion legislation was debated in the Dáil.

7th All Ireland Rally for Life, Dublin 2013  Credit: Paul Keeling






Roadshow 2013

The 23rd Roadshow was an amazing success; it was one of our largest to date and was vitally important at a time when the country was asking searching questions about abortion.

This year's pro-life tour was tinged with sadness due to the passing of the legislation in Dáil Éireann, which brought a huge urgency to the work we had to do: engaging with people, informing them of the issues and of the reality of the horrific abortion bill, and advocating life.

Each day our stall was set up; covered in pro-life literature and information, decorated with bright LIFE balloons, and manned by young people. The public thronged to come and receive life-affirming information.

The Roadshow has undoubtedly played a huge part in spreading the message of Life, reaching ordinary people on the street, and is crucial to the huge effort required to restore Ireland's pro-life ethos. Congratulations to all the incredible Roadshow team who worked so hard over the past 2 weeks!



Face the Nation

Fine Gael legalised abortion in Ireland: against all the medical evidence and against the wishes of the people.  The Face the Nation campaign calls Fine Gael to account for breaking it's pro-life promise - and ensure that voters do not forget who legalised abortion in out country. It also points out pro-life alternatives to voters.

We will bring Ireland BACK to Life". Great to see so many young people protesting the abortion act at Fine Gael's conference. 




One of Us: What A Success!

One of Us asks the EU to end the financing of activities which destroy human embryos. More precisely, the initiative demands of the EU that :

“No budget allocation will be made for the funding of activities that destroy human embryos, or that presumes their destruction”, as in particular for “research activities that destroy human embryos, including those aimed at obtaining stem cells, and research involving the use of human embryonic stem cells in subsequent steps to obtain them” and for “abortion, directly or indirectly, through the funding of organisations that encourage or promote abortion.”

The initiative was a superb example of grassroots activism, and the young volunteers in Youth Defence who had made a trojan effort in encouraging signatures and getting the Irish number of supporters past the quota to obtain a total of almost 11,000 Irish signatures.


1500 NEW signatures gathered for the One of Us initiative - bringing us closer to the total required to make the EU respect the human embryo. 


Joining with Precious Life to protest Marie Stopes

Hundreds of people gathered in Belfast City Centre for our “Witness for Life” on Saturday 19th October, when Precious Life protested the one year anniversary of Marie Stopes International setting up their illegal centre in Belfast.

Director of Precious Life, Bernadette Smyth, thanked the crowd, who had travelled from all across Ireland, for their strong pro-life witness. We were among them!


Read more on Precious Life here...


And the best bit of all...33 Babies saved...that we know of!

To know at the end of the year, despite the dreadful and unjust abortion bill, that at least 33 little guys and gals escaped the clutches of death, is enough for us to say, it wasn't such a bad year!

Who We Are