President of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) Síona Cahill warned that Europe is at a “dangerous” political moment, in an address to the German Green Party’s national conference in Leipzig.
Cahill, who was invited as the conference’s keynote speaker to address over 1,000 delegates of Die Gruenen, said lessons must be learned from the victory of the campaign to repeal the eighth amendment in Ireland, “amidst the battles we are all fighting across Europe when it comes to reproductive rights, diversity and inclusion”.
Cahill said progressive forces “need to be the ones who write the next act” in European politics, “and not let rising conservative narratives do that for us”.
In an email statement to The University Times, Cahill said she addressed the conference “on behalf of students and the Together for Yes campaign in Ireland”.
She spoke in front of a motif that said: “Europe: That’s what we are fighting for.”
In her speech, Cahill said: “We won abortion rights in Ireland because we worked together, we told our stories, we persisted, and most importantly, we didn’t make it about those who disagreed with us, we made it about the people that a ban on full reproductive rights affects – everyone.”
“To the social justice warriors”, she said, “the shrill tweeters, those ever accused of being a snowflake, I say keeping being difficult. Keep resisting. Keep defying.” Cahill was the only speaker to address the audience in English.
In July, Cahill spoke about the repeal campaign to 2,000 Planned Parenthood activists in Detroit, two months after Ireland voted overwhelmingly to repeal the eighth amendment to the country’s constitution.
In the months leading up to the referendum, thousands of students mobilised for the campaign for yes.
