I was deceived this week.

The Maynooth pro-life society tell me they were deceived this week.

The Maynooth LnD society were deceived this week.

We were deceived by Youth Defence.

Nothing new there you might say.  This is their agenda.  No need for the truth, rational debate, analysis of the facts or politeness.

At the meeting on Wednesday night, students turned up and were intimidated.  They had their photos taken without their permission and were told that they would be ‘exposed’.

This is outrageous behaviour.  I have never before seen its like on Campus.

I am inundated with emails from students who feel deceived and cross.

Cross because a Maynooth society allowed themselves to be a cover for Youth Defence.

Cross because they saw their fellow students being abused.

Cross because they were fooled into going to a rally that was designed to blind and confuse, not educate and enlighten.

I apologise for not being there, but I took the Maynooth pro-life society at face value when they said they were organising the meeting.  They never told me it was Youth Defence.

However, after I told them I was not turning up, they continued to distribute leaflets with my name on them.  Many students turned up because they were fooled into thinking I would be there.  There was no information put out that I was not going to turn up.  I have received an apology from pro-life about this, but to be honest, it doesn’t ring true.

Some students posted a letter on the door of the theatre that I had written explaining why I wouldn’t be there.  It was the very letter I sent to the pro-life society (which they acknowledged) stating why I was pulling out.  They removed this letter from the door because “they couldn’t be sure that it was really me who had written it”.They knew it was me that had written the letter because they acknowledged receiving it.

More dirty tricks.

I believe that my name was dragged through the mud for not turning up. The audience were told that I was disrespecting them for not turning up.  But they knew the reasons why I didn’t turn up.

More dirty tricks.

When  you hear all the issues, when you hear the real facts, there is no contest.  Embryonic Stem Cell therapy for degenerative diseases is an absolute obligation for the scientific body to pursue.

Am I alone in thinking this?

The last time I spoke on this subject for the pro-life society at Maynooth, a vote was taken after the meeting and the majority of the audience at this pro-life meeting voted in favour of embryonic stem cell research.  My opponent wasn’t somebody who was uninformed or unable to make an argument, it was Prof Whyte (barrister-at-law) from TCD.

I spoke against Prof William Reville in UCC and again after a vote, the audience voted (overwhelmingly) in favour of embryonic Stem Cell research.

So, was I afraid to turn up?  Absolutely not.  Why would I?

I declined because of hate mail I received in the past and because of the activities of Youth Defence and their associates, which offend me.  They were at it again on Wednesday night.

I am expecting the pro-life society to offer an unqualified public apology to the students that were harassed, to me for their attempted duping and to the university for allowing Youth Defence to come on campus under the cover of a university society.

If the Maynooth pro-life society did this on purpose, they need to apologise, if they were deceived then they need to apologise for being so stupid.

Hope I have cleared that up.