In late 2012, I gave a talk to a large group of fifth and sixth-year girls at a school in Co Galway. I remember the occasion well because the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar had made news only a couple of weeks before, prompting a huge abortion debate.
It wasn’t necessarily the best time for someone with strong pro-life views to be standing in front of a big audience of young women addressing this subject. Fortunately, it proved to be a perfectly calm occasion. No one shouted or became angry.