Driving to Derry from Letterkenny on Friday morning, I noticed a series of white crosses on the opposite side of the road.
The crosses were tiny, no more than 40cm high for the most part, and closely packed together.
As was the intention they looked like the crosses you would see on children’s graves years ago. I felt sick when I saw them. The sign above the crosses belonged to the group Abortion Never – which is affiliated with The National Party. It read: “Babies will die.”
The message was simple. A Yes vote would mean legalising abortions and that would result in thousands of Irish women giving birth and then murdering their babies (it didn’t say zygotes/blastocysts/foetuses will die… it said babies will die.).
Thousands of white crosses have appeared overnight around #Letterkenny. They've been placed at roads sides and on roundabouts. Believed to be connected to the #8Ref pic.twitter.com/Mn4nJ0DmUX
— Greg Hughes (@GregHughes2) May 18, 2018
There were many more Abortion Never posters along that stretch of road, though the people who erected the crosses have claimed no affiliation with right-wing leaning The National Party.
Speaking to Joe.ie on Friday, Christopher, the spokesperson for the group who erected the crosses said it was, “all good fun and hard work”.
“It adds a bit of excitement to the whole thing. People waking up in the morning in Donegal and not knowing what to expect.”
Christopher said the crosses had been erected by “common folk.” Adding that they were “shy and don’t want to be in the media. They’re rather get the word out through these awareness campaigns.”
Media spokesperson for Together For Yes in Donegal, Sinead Stewart, said the organisation had a lot of people getting in touch to say how upset they were by the crosses.
“I’ve had quite a few people in contact, quite distressed by it. Not just people who’ve been affected directly by a loss during pregnancy but people who’ve lost children and people who’ve lost loved ones in road deaths on Donegal roads.”
“People not directly affected by those things have been appalled at the callous insensitivity of the people who put those crosses up.”
Sinead says the people who erected the crosses, “have only served to display their lack of compassion or empathy for anyone in Donegal today. But this is not a game of schoolboy pranks and stunts to be played with people’s lives in the dead of night, even though that’s how they view it.”
However, Christopher spoke with pride: “I drove the route. It really is an incredible sight to see so many graves, children’s graves, because that’s what we are looking at. That’s the sad fact.”
Donegal Pro Life are a group of seriously sinister individuals. Thousands of white crosses living the letterkenny/Derry road this morning. As @banmharcach said earlier “are for the Tuam babies? Are they for the Magdalene women?” https://t.co/NEsXcz9LfH
— Nat (@NatsWP) May 18, 2018
On my way back to Donegal I was overcome with anger as I realised that the crosses covered almost the entire route home, a stretch of 20+kms.
The crosses reminded me of all the babies who died in the “care” of the Catholic Church and who were denied graves and crosses of their own. They reminded me of tiny Grace, whose parent’s couldn’t afford to stay in Liverpool to attend her funeral. Grace’s mum, Tracey Smith, had to sign for her daughter’s ashes when they arrived by courier three weeks later.
The crosses reminded me of all the women who have died because of the 8th amendment and all the people harmed by it. I wondered if there was enough crosses to even write the names of all of the women who have been permanently injured or traumatised because of the presence of the 8th.
Christoper claims there were 17,000 crosses erected; hundreds of thousands short of the number of women who have left Ireland to seek compassion and healthcare in other countries.
I became so angry, I stopped the car. Using a marker I wrote on the crosses. I wrote the names of some of the women I’m aware of who are dead either directly because of the 8th or because of the circumstances the amendment creates. I was shaking with anger and sadness as I wrote. I was also scared. Scared someone would stop the car and abuse me for writing on the crosses.
A car did stop.
A couple got out and asked me what were the crosses for. I explained and told them what I was doing and why. They told me they were distressed seeing the crosses as well, they said they found them offensive and hypocritical.
“They don’t want us to think about the women,” one of them said.
So I wrote the women’s names: Savita, Alisha, Michelle, Bimbo. I wrote in Ann Lovett’s as well, she experienced a crisis pregnancy under the 8th and died as a result and I wanted to remember her.
Since posting the photos of the crosses on social media, I’ve been contacted by a number of women who have had traumatic experiences because of the 8th.
These women want me to write their names and those of their babies on the crosses.
I’m returning tomorrow to add those names, so people will not forget about the women whose lives have been destroyed by the 8th amendment.
