Opinion
02 Oct 17

Labour Picks Woman "With Wealth Of Experience" To Front Repeal the 8th Campaign

The party's leader Brendan Howlin has announced that Councillor Jane Horgan Jones will chair the Labour Campaign to Repeal the 8th Amendment.

Cllr Horgan Jones, who has been a member of Dublin City Council since 2011, previously served on the Labour Party Expert Commission on the 8th Amendment.
The membership of the campaign committee is currently being finalised, but Hot Press understands that it will also include Labour's representive on the 8th committee Jan O’Sullivan, T.D., Senator Ivana Bacik and Labour Women Chair Sinead Ahern.
Making the announcement, Deputy Howlin noted that the city councillor has a "wealth of experience".
"Back in 1983, I campaigned against the insertion of the 8th Amendment into the Constitution.
"With a referendum now expected to take place in early 2018, I am determined that Labour will once more play a leading role in campaigning on this issue.," he says.
"Jane has a wealth of experience in campaigning for women's rights, and will, together with a committed group of women and men from within the Labour Party, argue for the repeal of the 8th Amendment.
"The Labour Party are proud to be members of the Repeal Coalition, and this campaign committee will be particularly tasked with working with other campaign ing organisations to deliver a campaign that is broad and inclusive."
Speaking on her appointment Cllr Horgan Jones tells Hot Press: “With the work of the Oireachtas Committee on the 8th Amendment underway and the Taoiseach announcing earlier this week that a referendum will take place early next summer, I am delighted to have been appointed chair of the Labour Party campaign.”
“More than 30 years since the 8th Amendment was inserted into our constitution, an entire generation – who had no say in that decision – remains bound by a constitutional provision that utterly fails to reflect the values and realities of modern Ireland."
She concludes: “In the months ahead I will be working with Labour members, cross-party and civic society groups to ensure that this referendum campaign is reflective of the progressive values that the Labour Party has always stood for.”