A WOMAN who had come into Enniskillen to do her weekly shopping has spoken of her anger at the sight that welcomed her in the town centre last Saturday.

The Diamond area was taken up with protestors holding up large anti-abortion posters whilst someone spoke through speakers placed around the area.

The protest in Fermanagh’s largest town spurred her to speak out about what she saw and the effect the graphic posters may have had on some of those who saw them.

The concerned woman, who had an abortion in her younger days, described the scene as “terrible”.

The protest was organised by the Centre for Bio-ethical Reform NI (CBRNI) – a Christian Abolitionist group who describe themselves as “a collection of people from across the county [sic] who are united in our desire to bring a full and absolute end to abortion in our country”.

Seeing what CBRNI brought to Enniskillen, the Fermanagh resident said: “It really was terrible. We came in on Saturday to town, and when we got in and parked we could see they were on both sides of the Diamond.

“There must have been about 15 or 20 people with these big placards with pictures of women’s wombs with babies in it, one or two showing aborted babies.

“Some of them [placards] were that big that two people had to hold them. I’d nearly call it hate speech,” she said.

“When I was very young, I had an abortion, and I’ve had to live with that, and the mental anguish that’s there every single day – to see this and to hear this!

“I’ve got a strong family around me, and if that was somebody that didn’t have the support that I have, I don’t know what they would do [upon seeing such a protest].”

“Some people might agree with abortion, some might not, but that’s a personal thing.

“These people are supposed to be this religious group, but they’re not thinking of the anguish that they’re causing women that might have gone through this,” she said.

The woman admits that if she had to do it again she would not have got an abortion but she believes people have the right to choose for themselves, and felt that the protest on Saturday could cause even more pain for women who have had the same experiences she has had.

Mark Lambe, a member of CBRNI, said that despite some initial aggravation, the event went well, and he said feedback was good. Mr. Lambe said the “outreach event” was organised by people from across Northern Ireland but he said it was mainly attended by locals.

With complaints about the noise levels and graphic images on display, Mr. Lambe said: “What we’re really careful about is that we stay within the law. There were police present.”

He said the event that took up both sides of the Diamond was done so as to abide by Covid-19 regulations, with Mr. Lambe adding: “That criticism is that we were spaced across the whole of the Diamond – if we had been standing in a small group, that same person would have been complaining about the fact that we weren’t social-distancing.

“There are certain people who just don’t like the message, and because of that they are keen to find fault in whatever way they can.”

Speaking about the graphic images on show last Saturday, Mr. Lambe said the people who did not like them were contradicting themselves.

“You know, we’ve read a lot of the stuff people have been saying, when they talk about abortion they talk about ‘a clump of cells’, they talk about ‘a choice’, they talk about ‘a foetus’.

“And all of a sudden, when you show the image of a 10-week child, it’s ‘insensitive’ because it could hurt somebody who has lost their baby.

“So it shows the massive contradiction in their [objectors’s] stance that on one hand it’s [the contents of the placard imagery] nothing, that shouldn’t have any legal protection, and should be allowed to be disposed of in whatever way they wish, but then on the other hand they recognise that it’s a baby.

“And they recognise the humanity of that child, they recognise the worth of it, because they recognise that in a miscarriage, somebody loses a child,” said Mr. Lambe.

In response to the issue over complaints and the protest held at the Diamond, a Fermanagh and Omagh District Council spokesperson told this paper: “The Council has received some complaints in relation to the protest at the Diamond, Enniskillen which took place on Saturday, May 22.

“The Council does not own the property, and is not required to licence any activity which is undertaken on the property.”