It was a day to remember. Despite the rain clouds which threatened all morning (and the torrent that came down at 1.50pm) the sun burst forth as the Rally for Life moved off from the Garden of Remembrance towards O'Connell Street. An estimated 4,500-5,000 people joined in the Rally, sending a powerful message to Dáil Éireann – that the Irish people will not tolerate the legalization of abortion.
 
As we face the myriad threats to Life we know we can to do together when we see the huge commitment and effort made by pro-life people to ensure that their voice is heard for the voiceless.
 
So from the Rally Committee, we’d like to extend a huge thank you. Thanks firstly to each and every person who made the effort to come last Saturday and making such a wonderful event possible. To everyone who got up at the crack of dawn to come long distances, a special thank you. It’s a measure of how Irish people feel about protecting children that the screaming, angry pro-aborts who failed to affect the Rally in any way, were outnumbered at least 100 to 1.
 
Thank you also to everyone in the Youth Defence office who did such a superb job in organizing the promotion of the Rally and played a blinder in stewarding it on the day. Two months of back-breaking work paid off! Thanks to Cóir and Precious Life who helped to organize busses from around the country for the day and who really added to the promotion of the day. And of course, to all the other groups – the Life Institute, Ultrasound and Family First – we couldn’t have done it without you.
 
Grateful thanks to all our volunteers who put up posters and handed out leaflets for weeks before the Rally – the hard slog brought thousands along. May God Bless the effort. Thanks of course to everyone for all the prayers and to the Man above for the sunshine!
 
Thanks especially to Íde, Katie, Rebecca, Maurice, Eoghan, Úna, Adrian, Darach, Anne-Laure, Niamh, Mark, Nathan, Brendan, Dónal, and Delia whose hard work made it all possible. Nár lagadh Dia sibh. Also our sincere gratitude to all the great speakers on the day, and to L’Angelus – the Cajun/Irish band who kick-started the fun with some great tunes.
 
It was a superb Rally, and Belfast next year is another hot date for your pro-life calendar. In the meantime check out www.rallyforlife.net  for photos of an enormously successful day.