Minister Helen Mcentee TD Launches ‘Youth For Yes’ Campaign

Minister Helen Mcentee TD Launches ‘Youth For Yes’ Campaign

 Monday, May 1st, 2018

 Pauline McLynn lends her support with a ‘Register for Yes’ video https://twitter.com/Together4yes/media 

Today, 1st May, the Minister of State for European Affairs, Helen McEntee TD, launched ‘Youth for Yes’, alongside Ireland’s national youth organisations: SpunOut.ie, Union of Students Ireland (USI) and BeLong To Youth Services, who support LGBTI+ youth in Ireland.

At the official launch, spokespersons announced their support for the ‘Together for Yes’ campaign and urged young people to vote yes in the upcoming referendum. The launch saw the premiere of a new ‘Register for Yes’ video featuring Pauline McLynn, reminding us that there is only one week left to register to vote.

Speaking at the event, Minister of State for European Affairs, Helen McEntee TD said, “This is a defining moment for young people, now is the time to have your say about the kind of Ireland you want for you and your children and your children’s children. 

This generation can ensure that for once and for all Irish women receive the care and compassion that they need at the time they need our support most, when faced with a crisis pregnancy.

Now we have the opportunity to finally put in place a doctor-led, regulated, safe and legal framework for the termination of pregnancy in certain circumstances while remaining unlawful in all others and demonstrate just how progressive, compassionate and caring a country we are in Ireland“.

Orla O’Connor, Co-Director of Together for Yes, said: “Young people have always been crucial to the campaign to remove the Eighth Amendment from the Constitution. The polls clearly show strong and consistent support for change among 16-24 year olds, at close to 70 per cent. We need to remove the harm of the Eighth Amendment so that young people in Ireland have access to high quality, compassionate healthcare. And we need young people to get out and use their votes to secure this change on 25th May.”

CEO of SpunOut.ie, Ian Power said, “SpunOut.ie was founded with a mission of empowerment. Our vision has always been of an Ireland where young citizens are empowered to make informed decisions about their own lives and health and that is why we are supporting a Yes vote in the upcoming referendum. 

In making this decision, we have been guided by the importance of compassion and care for those people making the difficult decision to end a pregnancy. SpunOut.ie believes that we all have a responsibility to ensure every woman can access reproductive healthcare in her own country with the support of her chosen doctor. We agree that Ireland must do more to uphold the human rights of women in respect of reproductive healthcare, as argued both by the UN Human Rights Committee and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.

The Union of Students in Ireland’s Deputy President Síona Cahill said: “USI is proudly campaigning under the Youth For Yes banner because of the hundreds of thousands young people, who haven’t had the opportunity to vote on this issue, need to be informed and get registered to vote ahead of May 25th. We will take the baton that has been passed to us from generations of activists, and we will take this over the line. We owe this to the thousands who have been forced to travel, or forced to continue a pregnancy.”

Moninne Griffith, Executive Director, BeLonG To said, “During the Marriage Equality referendum in 2015, thousands of young people came out to vote highlighting the political power of this generation. These votes and voices changed the landscape of Ireland for LGBTI+ people. We hope to see a similar turnout from young people across Ireland in the upcoming referendum to change the lives of those impacted by Ireland’s strict abortion laws.

We encourage every young person in Ireland who is 18 on May 25th to join #youthforyes and cast a vote. By campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote in the upcoming referendum to remove the 8th Amendment from the Constitution, you are saying yes to an Ireland where the health and well-being of every pregnant person is treated with compassion and dignity. It is vital all young people have their say on one of the most important human rights issues of a generation.”

*Tommy Clancy to circulate images to photodesks

 -ENDS-

Social:

#YouthForYes

@Together4Yes @HMcEntee @BeLonG_To @SpunOut @TheUSI @PaulineMcLynn1 

https://twitter.com/Together4yes/media

Contacts:

Sinead Keane, Communications, BeLonG To, sinead@belongto.org, 087 9269873

Denise Sammon, Communications, Together for Yes denises@togetherforyes.ie, 085 1463921

Ian Power, CEO Spun Out ian@spunout.ie, 083 148 4527