In 2015 in Croke Park the Unite Ireland Policy Conference debated the issue of Repeal of the 8th amendment to Bunreacht na hÉireann. I was a proud Unite member that day, not only because of the outcome of the debate, but because we had it. As an observer it was a difficult debate to listen to in many ways. Feelings ran high. If you think of the most extreme views you can imagine on the issue, on both sides, or that you might see on social media or hear on your doorstep from canvassers, rest assured that they were expressed in Croke Park at that conference too.
The outcome was that Unite supports Repeal of the 8th Amendment, and will campaign for that in the upcoming referendum. We will do so as a founding member of the Trade Union Campaign to Repeal the 8th Amendment, as a member of the Coalition for Repeal, and also in our own right as a Union. Of course, that does not mean that every member of Unite supports that position, and people will of course vote freely in the referendum in accordance with their own views, but it does mean that the Union has a decided position following a decision of our elected delegates at the appropriate Conference.
The necessary debate that we will have as a nation in the coming months promises to be difficult, and there is little enough sign that it will be conducted in an appropriate manner, but to me the matter has crystalised around a number of points.
Continue reading “Let us take our collective heads out of the sand and just trust women”
Unite for a Real Alternative 