Following intense criticism of the passive response of the Irish Minister for Justice to last Thursday's call for Ireland to legalise abortion at a major UN hearing, the government has now said that it will reject those recommendations attacking Ireland's pro-life laws. The recommendations, which directly attacked Ireland's pro-life laws, were made at a review of Ireland's human rights laws, a new process now being carried out by the United Nations

Welcoming the rejection of the abortion recommendations, the Life Institute, who had led opposition to attempts to use the review to call for abortion, said that the government had been forced to listen to the people on the issue. However, Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Institute, said that the comments made by the Justice Minister, Alan Shatter, at the review, still gave cause for concern.

"Following last Thursday's hearing, abortion campaigners in Ireland, led by the Irish Family Planning Association were cock-a-hoop, because they heard Minister Shatter say he would move quickly to implement the European Court ruling which called for abortion legislation," said Ms Uí Bhriain. "But the government has been under fire for the last eight months as we alerted people to how this review was being used to push abortion. Today's decision to reject the demands at the UN for Ireland to legalise abortion are a result of the huge numbers of people who contacted their representatives to insist that we continue to protect our unborn children."

"But Minister Shatter's comments at the UN hearing were very unsatisfactory and are still a cause for concern," she continued. "The aim of this current global push to force abortion on Ireland is to open the door by insisting that abortion is needed to save mothers' lives. We need to be on high alert to make sure that that chink in Ireland's pro-life armour isn't opened by the same government that is claiming it will reject abortion demands."

Youth Defence, who worked with the Life Institute on raising pro-life concerns within the UN review, said they wanted to thank the many thousands of Irish pro-life activists who had spoken up at public meetings, in submissions and directly to the government representatives. "It's amazing to see just how powerful the people can be when they speak up," said spokeswoman Katie Robinson. "It's testament to how perseverance can change politics and how a refusal to compromise on abortion can win victories for unborn children and their mothers."

"We'll need to harness that commitment to protecting the unborn again and again in the coming months as we work to ensure that the measures undertaken by the government on the European Court," said the Youth Defence spokeswoman. "We've a lot done and a lot more to do".

In their response to today's news the Irish Family Planning Association said the State's rejection of the abortion recommendations from the UN hearing meant it was sending "mixed messages" on how it wished to implement the ruling of the European Court. The abortion campaigners called on the Irish government to give a firm commitment to provide legislation for adequate abortion services and to give clarity to women and their doctors.