A motion calling on the Taoiseach to abandon the plan to make any changes to
the eighth amendment was defeated at the monthly meeting of Mayo county
council.
The call not to hold a referendum on the matter was made by independent
Castlebar councillor Frank Durcan.
Cllr Frank Durcan received no support for his call for the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to call off the planned referendum on the eighth amendment when a vote was taken on the
issue at last Thursday’s monthly meeting of Mayo county Council.

Independent Ballina councillor Seamus Weir who seconded cllr Durcan's motion
to allow the topic to be discussed subsequently opted to abstain from the
vote on the matter.
In his appeal to stop the referendum,  cllr Durcan insisted that no mother or
father ever regretted having a child. He claimed abortion was murder and if the eighth amendment was changed it would open the door to abortion and that Ireland's culture would be changed forever as a result.
In what can only be described as an extraordinary statement that was not
directly challenged by any cllr present, cllr Durcan then stated that our Taoiseach
never had the joy of holding his own child and added that some people will
never understand the joy of parenthood and being a grandparent.
He went on to state if the eighth amendment is changed , what will follow is
euthanasia.

In response a number of councillors then  spoke about the importance of the upcoming referendum to allow the electorate to decide if they want to change the eighth amendment while other cllr spoke of the need to change the eighth amendment.

Eventually a vote was taken on councillor Durcan’s motion and it was defeated by 21 votes to one, with  a number of councillors opting to abstain on the issue.

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