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IRISH WOMEN HAVE travelled to England and Wales for 25,000 abortions in the past five years, new data has revealed.
This works out at an average of 100 terminations a week for women from both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
The information has been obtained from the Department of Health in the United Kingdom by Belfast-based journalism project Detail Data.
Details on the age of those receiving the procedures and the locations that they have been carried out are also included.
Where are the procedures being carried out?
In total 19,947 girls and women from the Republic of Ireland and 4,652 from Northern Ireland travelled to the UK for terminations between 2010 and 2014.
The most used clinic was one located in Manchester, where 46% of women and girls from the Republic and 41% of those from Northern Ireland travelled.
In its figures Detail Data has cautioned that the numbers are only for those that have given addresses in Ireland, meaning the actual figure could be higher.
The data also includes girls under the age of 16 – and shows 152 from the South and 69 from the North made the journey.
Current legislation
Currently abortions are only available in Northern Ireland if a woman’s life is at risk or if there is a risk of a serious long-term effect on her physical or mental health.
Abortion in the Republic of Ireland is currently illegal, except in circumstances where there is a real and substantial risk to a mother’s life.
The new research estimates that the cost of making the trip ranges from around £400 to £1,500 (€550 – €2,070).
The full dataset from Detail Data can be examined here.
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Maybe they could cull a few of the vermin in Leinster House.
@RobbieL: Sinn Fein TDs got voted into Leinster House in the same way as every other politician and your insults won’t change that fact.
@RobbieL: hilarious! Come up with that yourself
@RobbieL: holy Christ is there anything you cant compare to politics.
@RobbieL: what a dumb comment!
@KilkennyProud: Don’t vote FFG.
@KilkennyProud: knee cap the rats
@RobbieL: yawn
@Charles Coughlan: who are ffg, never seen that party.
@RobbieL: Jaysus your so witty. Did you come up with that one all by yourself or did you need help?
Why not hiring Yorkshire terriers instead – they’ve been bred to kill rats and it won’t cost €50k…
There’s a video online showing how a group of terriers found and killed over 600 rats within a few hours. Also – what if the birds eat that poison?
@Aga Grandowicz: Jack Russell dogs are the ratters. Also there’s a rat terrier. I agree, much better idea.
@Aga Grandowicz: reminds me of the cane toad story in Australia…..
@Aga Grandowicz: I dont think you have the correct breed of dog.
Took a boat trip around the Saltees some years ago. Highly underrated place. Stunning. It was a privilege to see so many wonderful species of seabirds in their natural enviornment.
Shame rats can’t be eradicated full stop, not sure why but I have an innate fear of rats.
@Aging Lothario: Rats are intelligent and even affectionate creatures that in studies have shown they will attempt to rescue a trapped rat instead of opting for a reward of chocolate or cheese instead.
They are vital to the eco-system of this planet.
They can be pests sure but so can pretty much any living being.
@Aging Lothario: Rats will only attack if cornered.
@Reuben Gray: the only good rat is a dead rat
NZ did the same for the Kakapo bird
Tremendous success
Nicest description of a Rat I’ve ever heard. God I hate rats!
A great place to visit this summer – no problem with social distancing- watching the gannet diving for fish is truly spectacular
Thanks
Could they not rid the whole country of them. I read somewhere that new Zealand is doing so. Have rats a purpose that is worthwhile to our ecosystem?
@Martin Duffy: the state of alberta in Canada is probably 10 times the physical size of Ireland and they are rat free. I’ve always imagined their really harsh winter temperatures play a part in that but that’s purely my own thoughts.
This will of course have negative consequences. The poison getting into the water, birds and other animals eating the poison. Rats are part of nature’s balance whether we like them or not.
As with most ecosystems , surely balance is important? Reduce the rat pop yes, but eradicate? The rat’s job is to keep the seabird population from overcrowding and maybe having an overall negative effect. Nature has checks on population growth . How to reduce the rats without introducing another puffin chick predator, very hard.
If they eradicate all the rats we will have no politicians
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