Young people who packed the pro-life youth conference held in Maynooth last weekend, were told that they needed to be pro-life "without compromise, without exception, and without apology." Dr Eoghan de Faoite of Youth Defence said that abortion was the human rights issue of their generation. "You need to be informed, be active, and be together against abortion," he said to sustained applause.

Dr de Faoite pointed that unborn children urgently needed young activists to stand up for Life, because the victims were the most helpless and the ones dying in the greatest numbers. “More than 50 million children die from abortion every year,” he said. “That’s more than from war, from famine, or from any other social injustice.”

The Viva la Vida! conference, organised by Youth Defence, also heard from Niamh Uí Bhriain and Bernadette Smyth who had previously founded youth pro-life groups. They told the audience that they believed the future of the pro-life movement would be safe in their hands, and urged them to become active daily in Youth Defence’s pro-life projects.

More than 250 young people attended the weekend, and for many of them it was their first time at any pro-life event. Lila Rose, the young student who has done so much to expose the workings of the abortion industry, proved an inspirational first speaker on Saturday morning, while the conference had officially begun with a rousing talk from Brian Kemper of Stand True who specialises in activating young people against abortion.

“I thought all the speakers were great,” said Delia Bryan from Kildare. “They all had something to teach us, or said something to motivate us. It was a brilliant weekend”.

Also speaking was Dr Tony Levantino, a former abortionist, and John Pridmore, the former gangster who has now dedicated his life to God. Gianna Jessen, the young woman who survived an abortion, drew a huge crowd to hear her wonderful testimony on Saturday night.

Central to the conference was an Activation Session – where young pro-life leaders explained the different pro-life activities, from schools’ projects to street sessions to counselling, that young activists could get involved in. “We need you to become part of building a pro-life future,” Carolyn Johnson of Youth Defence explained. “We need you to participate and to bring your peers to the pro-life message.”

Conference organiser, Íde Nic Mhathúna said that the weekend was a “huge, huge, success, better than we had hoped and prayed for. It gives us great hope for the future of the pro-life movement,” she said.