Since meeting one of the loves of my life, Gemma, back in our first year of university we’ve had to go long distance with our friendship. It’s fine, it just means I get to go away for a few days to Dublin and have the luxury of free accommodation. I’ve been in worse situations. And now she’s moving to Canada, so being the good friend I am, I will of course save money to visit. I’ve been to Dublin about four times now, and it’s a great city - its vibe and energy is not too dissimilar to Bristol. It’s accessible, but a big enough place to explore with some really incredible music venues, and craft beer houses. It has all the tourist hotspots and leprechaun merchandise you could ever want, and quite a few stag and hen parties traipsing about. So for my first trip I did the obligatory tourist routes and then quickly altered my course and headed in the opposite direction to all the generic facilities.
Every time I’ve gone to Dublin I’ve always encountered some sort of anti-abortion brigade. It’s weird being called a “murderer” over your morning coffee. And it’s not even in a pet-name manner - it’s a stranger shouting at you with genuine hate. [caption id=“attachment_41221” align=“aligncenter” width=“667”]
My girl Gemma[/caption] Now I’ve never had an “accident“ (touches wood) but if I did I’m pro-choice. So for me, and many women across Ireland, you can imagine what it was like landing in a place where there was a landslide vote to repeal the eighth amendment! And you know when things weirdly just keep getting better? It was a great moment when I saw that one of my favourite ladies had been papped at the march with her face then smacked across various national news publications. It was a proud moment all round. No more making ‘the journey’ for an abortion, and finally people can make their own choice for termination should the mother be at risk - so many women have lost their lives because of the eigth amendment, mothers dying during childbirth because it’s ‘fair game’ or a coin toss between them and their baby. The city felt amazing and there was an undeniable feeling of unity and progression about it.
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