Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
A NEW BILL to be debated in the Dáil tomorrow would see the penalty for a woman in Ireland who procures an abortion reduced from 14 years in prison to a fine of €1.
The bill has been tabled by People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith, who said the revelations about the mother and baby home in Tuam are “a blatant example of the Church and the State’s cruel and barbaric treatment of women and children.”.
Today, women in Ireland are still treated as second class citizens and the barbaric sentence of 14 years imprisonment for accessing an abortion here is a shocking example of this. The Church and the State continue to dictate that women are not allowed to make their own choices as to whether to have children or not.
“This is why we urgently need a referendum to Repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution,” she said.
Advertisement
Smith said it was time for the Church to “get out of our lives, our beds, our hospitals and our schools”.
She said her bill, which will be debated by TDs in the Dáil tomorrow, is aimed at decriminalising abortion in Ireland. The debate follows further discussion at the Citizens’ Assembly over the weekend about repealing the Eighth amendment.
It also comes as 50 activists from Rosa (for Reproductive Rights, against Oppression, Sexism & Austerity) begin a tour around the country on a bus to publicise the availability of abortion pills online through Women on Web.
The bus started in University College Dublin this morning and will visit Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Kildare between now and Wednesday evening, finishing with a march to the Dáil at 5.30pm from the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Remind me my LLA heroes where the ADDITIONAL €500M in funding for the water infrastructure is coming from?
Oh yeah, general taxation. So ultimately we the Irish people are paying water charges. Wonder how many houses could be built with a multi year investment of €500M?
@Garreth OMahony: It probably means I politician terms, it was a total waste of time and public money but I lie for a living so whatever is the truth it will not come out of my lips. I have not greasing my hands just yet and although I am rich being a cease ball but I have a few crooked friends whose noses are still in the through.
@Garreth OMahony: He is trying to talk it up, he didn’t set it up as Merkel on behalf of the IMF told him to set it up in order to give it away to some IMF friend to make money out of like in buy out scenarios?
“John Perkins, Former Advisor IMF.
“My job was to identify countries with resources that corporations covert, like oil and then arrange a huge loan to that country from the World Bank or from one of its sister organisations. The money however would not go to the country, it would go to our own corporations who would make huge profits, but the majority of the people would suffer terrible as a result, because money would be diverted from Education, Healthcare and other Social Services to pay interest on the debt.”
What happened when the IMF moved in and the debt couldn’t be repaid?
“We go back into that country and say, since you can’t pay your debt, sell your resource oil or whatever real cheap to our corporations without any environmental restrictions or, or social regulations. Privatise, sell your electric utilities, your water, sewage systems, your schools, your jails, all your public sector businesses to our corporations, and in the few cases where we failed economic hitman, the jackals went in and still do and aah, they either assassinate the leaders of the country or overthrow them in coups.”
This fool is the poster child of all that is rotten in Irish politics. The bigger the disaster you are the bigger a reward you get. Create Irish Water = get appointed to 400k a year job in Brussels.
@Richard Cronin: Yep but he didn’t want it yet as he had more work to do as Taoiseach, more taxation I bet?
Or he had to wait for a virgin to be sacrificed to a blood moon, both are hard to come across now lol.
@Padraig Grimes: Originally the limit was announced at 150 ltrs but then this revised limit of 133 ltrs was rolled out,watch as the limits are revised downwards so as to introduce water charges by stealth, FG/FF/L all collude in water charges, what hypocrisy Labour at their conference calling out FG/FF on austerity measures when Labour was the champion of same, as for Phil Hogan, sure wasn’t he well rewarded for his bullying tactics just as no doubt the bold Enda will be in time.
“Irish Water is still there” That may be Phil. Try Google “Irish Water Pollution Fines” and then tell me where the money for the fines comes from. Go on Phil, Google those four words ya gob5hite.
Big Phil makes an appearance every now and then and offers his ” tuppence” halfpenny rant .Of course Phil is an Idiot of the highest order and knows not what he is talking about. A complete Bullshitt.r that is only interested in feathering his own nest. Of course Irish Water should never have been established,it only gave jobs to retired County Managers who already are getting far too much in pensions anyway. So Citizens, don’t give much heed to anything that big Phil says.
@Noel Kelleher: stop being so naive. He saved Enda in their last civil war and took the hit for IW with the promise of the move to EU and the bigger gravy train
Phil you Boots! Phil them up!
Simon Coveney the Bingo Caller. Numbers abounding from him with no substance.
Great little country that can survive these Jokers.
It remains there in defiance of the will of the majority of the electorate because Coveny wanted to be seen as a hard man to the FG party in the run up to the leadership bid and FF let him walk on them and went back on their promise in the GE, whether it survives in the long term is debatable as it’s management style has made it the most controversial semi state quangos but what is certain is that the handling of the issue will not gain any votes for either FF or FG and at their current rate of loss they can certainly not afford that. So Hogan can look back on his career as the minister who lost his party half their seats on their first time out and may yet lead to further losses, a nice record of achievement.
You normally say that about something that’s been around for 50 or 100 years, not something that was created in 2013. I believe he also uttered some nonsense about kenny being one of our best taoiseachs!
Heard on RTÉ earlier and the interviewer didn’t really get stuck in. IW as a central management of water is the correct way rather than coco but he didn’t any questions on how well it was done or if EU will mandate privatisation. I think they will in time.
Much better to have thirty local authorities involved than one utility. Thirty chief executives, thirty everything except people to fix leaks.
Oh yes, the last thing we wanted was one company doing it all. That’s mad, Ted.
@John Mulligan: or set up a overseeing body that uses the existing funding plus the additonal money from the property tax to start fixing the infrastructure. Perhaps if it’s needed add an extra 100 euro per year on top of the LPT then when the network has improved worry about meters with a true fair usage allowance instead of spending 1 billion on a billing company and meters . Perhaps this is what Phil was advised to do but as no minutes were kept it’s hard to know . The only people that have benefited from this shambles are those working directly and indirectly for IW .
@John Mulligan: we would not have thirty Chief in place of one. If it had been left in control of County Councils , as it should have, then they would have continued on doing the job, all that was needed was give them the money to carry out the work. Don’t forget that Idiot Phil also got rid of Town Councils, another disaster. It appears that He wanted full control, a dictatorship. Phil is a Bull Boy. He bullied his way in FG to keep Inda at the top a number of years ago.
@Alois Irlmaier: The cosy Brussels job was to put the man out of harms way where he could do no more damage. Hopefully the French will now put the EU to bed and Hogan might have to get a real job.
@James Mc Loughlin: And that is why he is in the EU in a cosy job as no one would ever vote for him again and they gave him a job to reward him in an unelected role, proves that the EU is undemocratic and full of jobs for those who scratch the right backs?
Just like Howlin and the Labour party big Phil and F.G. never seem to get what the people said, you have screw the people by wasting money that could have put into hospitals, schools, taking medical cards of poor, sick and dying to pay for this waste. now f–k of back to your pay masters europe.
Well Folks when you vote for a political party you get the likes of Hulk Hogan. So get rid of the political parties. Vote them out again and again until the conversation changes fundamentally. Let’s stop playing the same old broken record ad infinitum.
He could give 2 good fkucs what the people of this badly run auld country think ,the more stupid incompetent arrogant lazy thick and useless as a politician you are the more you are rewarded while the working man and woman of this country pay a marginal tax rate of nearly 55% to keep those fukcers paid and their Golden plated pensions topped up ,and in turn receive a third world health system no housing roads that destroy our massively over priced cars no public transport outside the main cities and don’t get me started on broadband……of water
Pure opportunist money grabber absolutely no interest in politics who s only mission was to kinnive his way to a money oriented number in Brussels , couldn’t care less about the citizens of this country, another rat
So Phil Hogan saved Dublin’s water!! Wow! Thanks Phil. And there was me thinking you were the lowest form of life to have wormed your way into our political life. How wrong can you be!
When Phil Hogan announced the charges for water his attitude was autocratic and insulting. I remember listening to him and thought
this man has some nerve and I paid my water charges.
'No-one wants to talk here': The silence surrounding the killing of Claire Collins
Niall O'Connor
8 hrs ago
12.6k
Surrealing in the Years
Surrealling in the Years: Keep your filthy hands to yourself
3 mins ago
14
trade war
China slaps extra 34% tariffs on US imports as Trump vows his 'policies will never change'
Updated
15 hrs ago
60.6k
177
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 164 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 111 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 146 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 116 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 85 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 85 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 39 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 35 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 136 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 61 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 76 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 84 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 47 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 93 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 100 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 73 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 55 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 91 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 69 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say