Niamh Uí Bhriain (; born 1970) is an Irish Catholic policy lobbyist,

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

campaigner and

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...

activist. She became prominent on the campaign against abortion in Ireland. She is the spokesperson for the

political pressure group, the Life Institute.

Early life

Uí Bhriain was born in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

in 1970. She first came to prominence as a co-founder and original leader of

Youth Defence Youth Defence is an Irish organisation that opposes legalisation of abortion. It was founded in 1986 (during the 1986 divorce referendum), lay dormant, and was reformed in 1992 following the ''X Case'' ruling. It shared offices with the Euro ...

. She says that the inspiration behind the group came from a visit by American anti-abortion activist Joseph Scheidler to her parents' house during the 1983 referendum, during which he had brought with him graphic images of aborted foetuses. She is the daughter of Úna Bean Mhic Mhathúna, who, as Secretary of the Irish Housewives’ Union, became famous for her letter to then

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

, Charles Haughey. In this letter, she denounced "career women" and called for women with children to be laid off from the Irish Public Sector. She also denounced pre-menstrual advice for children and sex education, claiming it was disgusting.

Media contributions

Uí Bhriain is a contributor to print and online media publications, submitting letters and articles on the topics and campaigns she supports. Her contributions have been published in ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

'' and ''

The Irish Catholic ''The Irish Catholic'' is a 40-page Irish weekly newspaper providing news and commentary about the Catholic Church. The newspaper is privately owned by editor-in-chief Garry O’Sullivan, managed by a private limited company and independent of ...

'' newspapers, as well as on online sites such as '' TheJournal.ie''.

1992 general election

Uí Bhriain ran for

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

as an independent

candidate for

Dublin Central Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

in the 1992 general election. She gained 514 first preferences, amounting to 1.4% of the total vote, and was eliminated on the fifth count with a total of 552 votes.

Youth Defence

Uí Bhriain co-founded the anti-abortion campaign group

. She spoke at the Catholic event,

Meeting for friendship among peoples The Meeting for friendship among peoples (''Meeting per l'amicizia fra i popoli'' in Italian) is a multi-event Catholic festival held every year in Rimini, Italy, in a week at the end of August. The first edition took place in 1980. Description ...

, in Rimini,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, alongside the founder and leader of the far-right

Forza Nuova New Force ( it, Forza Nuova, FN) is an Italian neo-fascist political party. It was founded by Roberto Fiore and Massimo Morsello. The party is a member of the Alliance for Peace and Freedom and was a part of the Social Alternative from 2003 to 20 ...

party,

Roberto Fiore Roberto Fiore (born 15 April 1959) is an Italian politician and the leader of the party Forza Nuova, convicted in Italy for subversion and armed gang for his links to the right wing terrorism organization "Terza posizione". He self-identifies ...

, in August 2000.

Libel action against Independent Newspapers

In 1997,

Justine McCarthy Justine McCarthy is an Irish writer, broadcaster and a columwith ''The Irish Times''. One of Ireland's most respected commentators on politics and culture, she is Adjunct Professor of Journalism at the University of Limerick. She often appeared ...

alleged in the Sunday Independent that Uí Bhriain had received training from American anti-abortion group, Operation Rescue, in how to blow up abortion clinics. Uí Bhriain sued for

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

, and in 2007 won an undisclosed sum from

Independent Newspapers Independent Newspapers Limited (INL) was a newspaper publisher in New Zealand. Started as the Wellington Publishing Company in 1906 to publish ''The Dominion'', it began taking over other newspapers in the 1970s and was renamed Independent New ...

Same sex couples' adoption rights

Uí Bhriain was the spokesperson for the Mother and Child Campaign, which campaigned against the introduction in Ireland of the right for same-sex couples to adopt children. She was quoted as saying: :"I would not be confident in knowing that, God forbid, something happened to myself or my husband that my children would be raised in a household where there was a same-sex union. The adoption board and An Taoiseach have refused to give assurances to Irish parents that the children will not be placed in households where there are same-sex unions and will not be raised by homosexuals or lesbians." The Mother and Child Campaign also claimed in April 2006 that children raised by same-sex couples were more likely to develop drug problems and mental health issues.

Cóir

Uí Bhriain was involved in Catholic/nationalist group

Cóir Cóir (; Irish for "justice") was a social Catholic, conservative Eurosceptic lobby group established to campaign against the Treaty of Lisbon which was approved by referendum in Ireland on 2 October 2009. The group claimed to have had approximat ...

during both

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member sta ...

campaigns ( the first referendum in June 2008, which was rejected, and Lisbon II in October 2009 which was approved).

References

External links

Posts by Niamh Ui Bhriain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ui Bhriain, Niamh 1970 births Living people Independent politicians in Ireland Irish anti-abortion activists Irish women activists Politicians from County Cork Irish eurosceptics Irish far-right politicians Irish Roman Catholics