365 days of a more compassionate Ireland – Duffy

New Year’s Day marks the anniversary of the abolition of the 8th amendment

New Year’s Day marks 365 days of a more compassionate Ireland as we mark the anniversary of the abolition of the 8^th Amendment to the Constitution, a Fine Gael candidate has said.

Deirdre Duffy, Fine Gael Candidate for Dublin Central in the next General Election, was the Campaign Manager for the Together for Yes campaign that brought about the historic change to Ireland’s laws last year.

Speaking on the anniversary Deirdre said: “Today we can say we have had 365 days of a more compassionate Ireland with the abolition of the 8^th amendment. This has been a remarkable step forward for women’s rights in this country.

“However there is yet more to do. One of the key ancillary recommendations of the report of the Oireachtas Committee on the 8^th amendment was the provision of free contraception. We gave a commitment in seeking to abolish the 8^th amendment that we would do everything to try and reduce the number of crisis pregnancies.

“I am pleased with the appointment of Dr Aoife Mullally as the HSE Clinical Lead for Termination of Pregnancy services.

“I believe we can do better as a country in terms of sex education in schools. The Department of Education is due to introduce new guidelines next year for how sex education is taught in schools. It is hugely important that the curriculum is revised to bring it up to speed with the 21^st Century.

“As well as topics such as safe sex and contraception, I’d like to see education on LGBT matters with an emphasis on trans rights. Supports for teachers are also crucial to help them communicate these important issues to young people,” Ms Duffy concluded.