Brolly quit Sinn Féin over party’s stance on abortion

Former Mayor of Limavady, Anne Brolly, has revealed she left Sinn Féin over the party’s stance on abortion.

Mrs Brolly (pictured) said she allowed her membership of the party to lapse, after serving on Limavady council from 2001 to 2014.

She said a motion passed by the party in 2015 supporting abortion in limited cases of fatal foetal abnormality informed her decision.

She told the Irish News: “I would be prepared to accept Sinn Féin on many levels and I will always support them on their ultimate aim towards a united Ireland, but this was step too far for me," she said.

Her husband Francie Brolly, a former Sinn Fein Assembly member, said he also considered leaving the party but "decided to stay in and try to change it".

The couple are leading figures in a new pressure group set up to oppose abortion across Ireland.

Mrs Brolly described ‘Cherish All The Children Equally’, as a “human rights organisation.”

“You can be a Catholic, a Protestant, an atheist and all kinds of political affiliations and none, we are there to fight for the rights of the unborn child," she said.

The group intends to distribute leaflets and canvass door to door across Ireland in an effort to oppose the relaxation of abortion laws in the North and the potential repeal of the Eight Amendment of the Republic’s constitution which protects the right to life of the unborn

Francie Brolly said he wrote to Sinn Féin about his concerns and had “agreed to differ” with the party’s leadership on the issue.

He said he has “no doubt that a substantial number” of people in Sinn Féin “would like their voice to be heard and they would not be agreeing with moving towards having an abortion culture”.

“This group will give people the opportunity to let their political parties known if they are going to follow a route against their conscience.”

Cherish All The Children Equally held its first meeting in Cookstown recently and are to hold a public meeting at the GAA Centre of Excellence at Owenbeg in Dungiven on Thursday, November 17 next.