be allowed here in Ireland, in the not too distant future, but chancers like Smith and her ilk will do nothing to advance the cause. This is more about raising their profile in time for the next General Election, as they vie to outdo each other in their outrage.

(The bould Finian is a chancer as well btw.)

The reality is that Ireland is still conservative, especially when it comes to abortion. However, you can see from the Gay Marriage Referendum success, things are changing but going bull headed is going to do more damage than good. The campaign that the LGBTQ lobby ran should be the template, not this nonsense. Depressing.

Women in Ireland have only been allowed the right to obtain abortions rather than DIE for the past few years. I'm quite sure women are still dying. For you to treat this as "far far left" issues is absolutely reprehensible and misogynistic.

1. I'm Irish and live in Ireland
2. I'm Pro Choice
3. I've voted left of centre for most of my voting life.
4. I'm trying to inform you of the reality of where we are, here in Ireland.
5. What Smith and the rest of them are up to IS Grandstanding, in an effort to pile pressure on the Pro choice Independent Government Ministers (Finian McGrath, Katherine Zappone and John Halligan), so they can bring down the current minority government, and are shamelessly using an emotive issue to achieve their aims. Don't be fooled by the rhetoric.

The Independents above, and Fine Gael (who brought in the Gay Marriage Referendum last year, with the Labour Party), have already agreed, as Government partners

1. That the non partisan Citizens Assembly have already started looking into this, and will report back to the Government early next year.
2. The Government will then establish a Cross party committee to take the CA findings and come up with something that can draw enough support to make progress on this important issue.
3. The Taoiseach (Prime Minister) has already said that there will be a free conscience vote on the issue, but bear in mind that this will still have to go before the people in a Constitutional Referendum.
4. The Catholic Church is on the wane here, but are still a powerful lobby. They and the hard right religious nuts (including financial backers from the US, the same ones who you fight against) have been preparing for this fight for years, and will be ready. Whatever the Government come up with, it has to be worded right. If not, the politics of fear will work overtime to defeat the Referendum.
5. What the AAA/PBP chancers are demanding, hasn't a chance of passing, and they know it but are using the issue for their own political motives. Deplorable.

So it looks like the "far far left" (anti-austerity, in reality - they're not communists) has the support of most of the Irish for this. Why that makes them "chancers" in your eyes, I can't tell.

As regards the AAA, that is a front for the Socialist Party. The PBP is a front for the Socialist Workers Party. There isn't a Socialist Government in Europe that they would consider Socialist enough. In general, they are Trotskyite in their politics. What makes them chancers is in the aftermath of the Water Charges debacle, they have been emboldened to go after other single issues, in other to make political hay.

As regards Majority support, yes absolutely, I believe there is majority support for abortion in the case of rape/incest/fatal foetal abnormalities but what the Repeal the Eight Campaign run by the AAA want is the deletion of the Eight Amendment, and not replace it with anything. It's unrealistic. This would potentially allow unrestricted abortion, but that isn't where Ireland is right now. Have a look at the very article you quoted

Today’s poll – and previous polls in The Irish Times – suggest there is public support for at least a limited liberalisation of Ireland’s strict anti-abortion regime. The question in today’s poll suggests only such a limited liberalisation.
For this to happen, article 40.3.3 would have to be repealed.

However, it is not clear that there is sufficient public support for the introduction of a UK-style regime in Ireland, where – subject to term limits – there is general access to abortion.

Though this is the demand of many pro-choice campaigners, many politicians in Leinster House doubt that such a proposal would pass in a referendum.

Whatever is proposed needs to carry the majority, or else it could put back the Pro Choice cause another decade.

As the article said, the eighth amendment prevents abortion for fatal foetal abnormalities, and that means it needs to go. But inserting another clause on abortion into the constitution would be another disaster. Take abortion out of the constitution, and just pass a law for the cases for which public opinion will now accept abortion. Then if opinion changes, as the church influence wanes, for instance, a new law can be passed without yet another constitutional amendment.

This is not a 'far far left' stance, and proposing it does not make politicians 'chancers'.

I live here, and I'm telling you logic like that won't enter the equation. This is a country where 90% of the schools are still under the patronage of the Catholic Church. They still have power. While I agree bringing abortion out of the constitution and bringing it under the legislature is the right approach, Ireland is not at the point yet where such a constitutional referendum would pass. We have a horrible history over the last 10 years especially, of fear mongering by vested interests resulting in the Referendums being defeated on a variety of topics.

No more than the US, people have a distrust of government, so when fear mongers come out and plant the seed that X will happen, people vote against it. For example, post 2008, people were clamouring for the Bankers etc, to be brought to justice, so as a response to that, the Government introduced a Constitutional Amendment to increase the powers of Parliamentary Inquiries which would compel witnesses. Initially the move was welcomed, but then the fear mongers in the Legal profession got to work and created enough fear that it was defeated 53 - 47, despite a poll 3 weeks earlier saying ( October 9, Ipsos MRBI/The Irish Times Yes 65% No 8% Undecided 27%).

This is not a 'far far left' stance, and proposing it does not make politicians 'chancers'.

The 'far far left' know that their demands don't have a chance of actually happening but they are chancers in using the opportunity to cause trouble in the Coalition Government. It's entirely for political advantage, and is as bad as anything the Republicans get up to in the US. Abortion rights will increase here, over time, as the older generation die off and the influence of the Catholic Church lessens, but it will be step by step.

but you think someone trying to fix things now is a 'chancer'. Maybe they just care about not making people wait and suffer.

Again, re the chancers, there are many decent, honourable people who are trying to move the debate on without the Sh!tfest that those chancers last night were trying to create, and I repeat, for purely political gain. I don't know if you followed the passing of the Gay Marriage Referendum that was won last year, but the campaign the LGBTQ community ran of bringing the people with them, is the way to go.