Independent TD Carol Nolan was reduced to tears in the Dail yesterday as she valiantly defended the rights of those who conscientiously object to abortion while receiving personalised attacks from other deputies in the house.

She had proposed an amendment that public money not be used to fund abortions so that tax payers who object to abortion would not be made complicit. She had previously outlined her reasons for doing so in an article in the Sunday Independent.

Her former party colleague, Louise O’Reilly of Sinn Fein, however belittled the efforts of pro-life TDs, making reference to “shock tactics” and “graphic language” and said “Sure it’s all they have left.” In a further swipe, she added that it’s “sad” that Ms Nolan is “coming in here to do the bidding of a well known businessman”. This was a reference to Declan Ganley who had earlier tweeted ‘I will not pay, I will die first’. Other deputies accused Ms Nolan of having a “sinister motive”, of “spreading misinformation” and of being driven by a “visceral hatred”.

Peadar Toibin later tweeted in defense of Ms Nolan writing: “Efforts to close down debate or censor elected TDs should not be tolerated in a truly liberal democracy. Why should a TD be subjected to name calling, character assassination, second guessing of motivations for simply seeking to represent a minority view.”