Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----standing still in the relevant spot, as I have said.

I thank Senator McGreehan for her relevant and helpful intervention because it reminds me these people could have a story themselves. They may have an abortion story. There are women who deeply regret their abortions and who regret that the State and the apparatus of State did nothing to point them in the direction of more positive alternatives. There are some - not all - who have had adverse mental health sequelae. There are some who are spiritual or some who are maybe not but have found counselling and support, including from pro-life people, that has helped them to get over their sorrow. I suggest to my friend, Senator McGreehan, that some of those people might be among those people who want to silently witness in this way. I would not be at all surprised. I do not know if that is what Senator McGreehan was saying but I think she is a fair person and we have agreed on things the same way we have disagreed on things. There are people on both sides here. If we could only let people show a bit of love to one another, we could maybe understand that the witnessing that can go on quite far from being adversarial can be something that is intended in a spirit of deep friendship and concern for the other. My concern is that unless it is made clear, there will be a question in people's minds that even if they are standing still in the same spot they could be in breach of section 2(2) of the Bill if the requisite intent or recklessness is deemed to be present.

That is the position as far as I can put it. Again, I indicate that I will not be pressing the amendment at this point because I am really keen to see the Minister and the apparatus of State engage with these concerns, particularly as I fear that they have not engaged with, sought to engage with or responded positively to any requests they might have received from people representing the broader pro-life concern in our society. This is a substantial number of people, as we know, in the Minister's constituency as well as anywhere else. I fear and I know that this is one of these pieces of legislation that has really only heard from one side up to this point. That is why this is such a critical moment. The Bill has been through the Dail and yet again we find ourselves in the Seanad giving greater scrutiny as we did with the hate speech legislation, and the referendum Bills even though we were guillotined We still put it out clearly and cogently and are still doing so and doing a job that was not adequately done in the Dáil. We are doing it here again on this safe access legislation with due respect, by the way, to colleagues in the Dáil who have done their very best. This is our last chance now because the Bill has been through the Dáil and we need to consider the constitutional implications. We need to consider the question of whether there is a via media possible here. This would be an honourable compromise that could turn this legislation from being something that seeks to crush dissent ruthlessly into something that articulates a concern that some people may have, reasonably or unreasonably, but which seeks also to recognise there are other people who are deserving of respect in our society who might respectfully want to contribute their deep values to this very troubling situation.