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

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

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 refor ...

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 ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

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 judgment in the X Case. It shared offices with the ...

. 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 nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who led four governments as Taoiseach: December 1979 to June 1981, March to December 1982, March 1987 to June 1989, and June 1989 to February 1992 ...

. 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 was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'' 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, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

as an independent

candidate for Dublin Central 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, in

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, alongside the founder and leader of the far-right Forza Nuova party, Roberto Fiore, in August 2000.

Libel action against Independent Newspapers

In 1997, Justine McCarthy 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 a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

, 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 N ...

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 during both

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

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