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'I never heard the word abortion': Singer reveals anguish of unplanned pregnancy

Eileen Reid revealed how she “cried to the Sacred Heart picture” after becoming pregnant.

SHOWBAND SINGER EILEEN Reid opened up about her unplanned pregnancy on TV today, revealing how she had “cried to the Sacred Heart picture” after becoming pregnant.

Speaking on the TV3 Midday panel, she also opened up about multiple affairs during the showband era.

Midday on TV3 Eileen Reid Reid on TV3 today. TV3 TV3

She had been unfaithful to her husband, Jimmy Day, for “probably going on for nearly 15 or 20 years,” Reid said.

Regarding her pregnancy, she said:

I became pregnant, nearly in the beginning when I started the affair, and it was terrible for Jimmy.

“I never heard of the word abortion. I was looking for help and I didn’t want to tell my family.

“There are probably loads of girls out there that had the same thing happen.

“When the gun was put to my head and I was pregnant. I prayed and cried to the sacred heart picture.

“The next morning I had a miscarriage. I was only two months gone.”

eil3 TV3 TV3

‘Finding God’ 

The singer also spoke about how she found religion, telling the panel:

“It was unbelievable the way God came into my life, people in show business never talk about God.

“I had to tell Jimmy and he was great.

“It’s the greatest thing that ever happened to me. God showed me things because I was open. It was miraculous.”

Her story struck a chord with viewers, with one contacting the show to say her mother had given birth to her when she was aged just 19.

“It was a big shock and it wasn’t very welcomed,” the viewer said.

“Twenty three years later I’m a secondary school teacher and the others in the family all say they don’t know what the family would be like without me. Eileen fair play for your honesty.”

Another simply said the singer’s story had touched her “very deeply”.

“She’s no idea how much I empathise with that pain she felt. I’d listen to her all day long! Fabulous story teller.”

Read: Women tweet their abortion stories in hashtag campaign to fight stigma

Read: Fianna Fáil will NOT hold a referendum on the 8th 

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    Mute Rocky Dennis
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    Sep 1st 2013, 11:13 AM

    I blame the lads in sector 7-G.

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    Mute Egg Mcmuffin
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    Sep 1st 2013, 11:18 AM

    Probably Lenny.

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    Mute Spoddgy
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    Sep 1st 2013, 11:26 AM

    Aahh it’s a secret!

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    Mute Rocky Dennis
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    Sep 1st 2013, 11:36 AM

    Sshhhhhut up!

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    Mute Tony Skillington
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    Sep 1st 2013, 7:10 PM

    Sticky tape? ….

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    Mute Ken Collins
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    Sep 1st 2013, 12:03 PM

    I know duck tape can fix most things, but leaky radiation filled pipes is a new achievement! I hope they used some wd-40 too.

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    Mute Peter Richardson
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    Sep 1st 2013, 11:14 AM

    This could be a more long term problem than Chernobyl

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    Mute Bill
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    Sep 1st 2013, 11:17 AM

    TEPCO have said it will take anywhere between 40 and 100 years to properly contain the leaks and yet plans going ahead in island next door to us to build more nuclear plants and a kind of softening up process going on here that we should follow suit this madness must stop.

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    Mute Stephen Fitzpatrick
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    Sep 1st 2013, 11:26 AM

    It’s one of the older model reactors, yet it took an earthquake AND a tsunami to damage it enough to leak.

    Technology has become much safer since it was originally built – so long as they build the new plant using new tech, I’m not worried.

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    Mute Bill
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    Sep 1st 2013, 1:03 PM

    @Stephen Would you be ok if they built one next door to you

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    Mute Adrian de Cleir
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    Sep 1st 2013, 1:43 PM

    Bill the only reason I wouldn’t like it beside me is because of the eye sore, I would feel perfectly sage.

    Fukushima took more of a hammering than than anyone anticipated, a magnitude 9 earthquake and a massive tsunami, 1000s died across tho country.

    Fukushima was part of the disaster but wasn’t the disaster itself.

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    Mute Dagda
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    Sep 1st 2013, 1:42 PM

    Tepco has consistently underestimated the scale of this problem, they’ve lied to the public and they seem unwilling to accept help from anyone. The IAEA should demand access to Fukushima and compile their own report. The Japanese authorities have lost all credibility on this and things are getting worse.

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    Mute Anthony Byrne
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    Sep 1st 2013, 12:46 PM

    Fukushima is every bit as bad as chernobyl. Both were melt-down. Only chernobyl had the explosion to go with it.

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    Mute Morticia
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    Sep 1st 2013, 1:37 PM

    Melt down?

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    Mute Anthony Byrne
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    Sep 1st 2013, 2:01 PM

    Yep melt-down. Reactor core cooling system fails. Nuclear fuel rods overheat, and “melt-down” and become an un-contained unmanaged unmanageable mush of molten uranium emitting vast uncontrolled quantities of radiation and heat, contaminating everything it comes close to, including the groundwater system which freely roams around the local, and not so local environment thus distributing the contamination over a wide area.

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    Mute Monkey Boy
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    Sep 1st 2013, 12:28 PM

    No nukes, No nukes,

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    Mute Kevin Beakey
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    Sep 1st 2013, 1:38 PM

    Will all that radioactivity create a mutant lizard like Godzilla and may reek havoc in New York in a few years time??

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    Mute Garry Coll
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    Sep 1st 2013, 11:52 AM

    Yeah, and the Pope is a Catholic.

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    Mute Usawadee Wannapho
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    Sep 1st 2013, 2:43 PM

    ‘Save The Whales’

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    Mute Juan Carr
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    Sep 1st 2013, 7:42 PM

    Leaking into or out of?

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