March 19, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – American "friends of Ireland" released the following letter urging support for the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution, which guarantees the right to life of unborn children in the Republic of Ireland. A referendum vote on the amendment is scheduled for May 25th:

On the Eve of Saint Patrick's Day 2018, we, the undersigned, Friends of Ireland, wish to reaffirm, and to remind all persons of goodwill, that the origin, tradition, and principal purpose of this celebration is to commemorate the Apostle who "brought to our mountains the gift of God's Faith and the sweet light of His Love."

The Catholic Faith which Patrick imparted to the Irish people has defended, consistently, for two millenia, the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life in all of its stages and conditions.

This defense of life includes the lives of civilians and prisoners in time of war, the lives of indigenous peoples confronting colonization, the lives of the sick, elderly and disabled menaced by euthanasia, and the lives of children in the womb threatened by abortion.

Ireland, more than most nations, ought to understand how vulnerable the defenceless are to acts of capricious violence.

It would be a grave injustice, a grievous betrayal, and an existential tragedy if Ireland were to repudiate the Faith and legacy of Saint Patrick and embrace, instead, the ethics and practices of alien societies who have, through acts of violence, victimized the weak and the helpless, including, in past generations, the unoffending people of Ireland.

We would remind the people of Ireland, and her political leaders, that the best and most meaningful way to celebrate our patron saint is to preserve his patrimony, in both the Faith for which he evangelized an entire nation, and in his enduring solicitude for the lives of all of his flock who were endangered.

We urge the people of the Republic of Ireland to uphold the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution and to continue to protect innocent human life."

John Aidan Byrne, President, Irish Pro-Life USA

C. J. Doyle, Executive Director, Catholic Action League of Massachusetts

American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists

The Ancient Order of Hibernians in America, Inc.,

Judge James F. McKay, President,

Daniel J. O'Connell, Vice-President

Jere E. Cole, Secretary

Sean Pender, Treasurer

Sohrab Ahmari, Journalist

Matthew Lee Anderson, D. Phil Candidate in Christian Ethics, Oxford University

Michael Bayer, Director of Evangelization, Saint Clement Catholic Church, Chicago

Micaiah Bilger, Journalist

Father Shenan J. Boquet, President, Human Life International

Very Reverend Monsignor Patrick S. Brennan, Pastor,

Saint Mary's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Portland, Oregon

Thomas Brejcha, President & Chief Counsel, Thomas More Society

Doctor Jeffrey J. Burks, Vice-President, Notre Dame Chapter of University Faculty for Life,

Associate Professor of Accountancy, University of Notre Dame

Brian Camenker, President, Mass Resistance, Massachusetts

Charles Camosy, Associate Professor of Bioethics, Fordham University

S. Kathleen Carlson, MD Candidate, University of Virginia School of Medicine

Daniel Carlson, MD, Medical College of Virginia

Doctor Pat Castle, Coach and Founder, The National Life Runners Team

Commander Joseph L. Coffey, Chaplain Corps, United States Navy

Holly Taylor Coolman, Assistant Professor, Providence College

Daniel J. Costello, Jr., Bettex Professor of Electrical Engineering Emeritus, University of Notre Dame

William Cotter, President, Operation Rescue: Boston

Martijn Cremers, Bernard J. Hank Professor of Finance, University of Notre Dame

Kristen Day, Executive Director, Democrats for Life

Patrick J. Deneen, David A. Potenziani Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame

Alexandra DeSanctis, Journalist

Benjamin Domenech, Publisher, The Federalist

Lauren Enriquez, Founder, Kingwood Pro-Life Women

Dan Flaherty, Irish Pro-Life USA, Knights of Columbus, Council 10419

Honorable Raymond L. Flynn, Former Mayor of Boston, Former U. S. Ambassador to the Holy See

Catherine Glenn Foster, President & CEO, Americans United for Life

Richard Garnett, Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame

Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University

Catherine Hadro, Host, EWTN Pro-Life Weekly

Beth Kieran Haile, Independent Scholar

Thomas A. Haltigan, Chairman, Rockaway Catholic Right to Life Ministries, New Jersey

Attorney Thomas M. Harvey, Chairman, Massachusetts Alliance to Stop Taxpayer Funded Abortions

Christina Healey, MD Candidate, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Royce Hood, Founder, Law of Life Summit

Jack Hughes, JP Hughes Consulting, Philadelphia

Reverend Robert Imbelli, Associate Professor of Theology Emeritus, Boston College

Elise Italiano, Executive Director, The Given Institute

Attorney Robert W. Joyce, Boston

Joseph P. Kaboski, David F. and Erin M. Seng Foundation Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame

Jessica Keating, Notre Dame Office of Life and Human Dignity

Brian D. Kelly, Editor, Mancipia

Philip F. Lawler, Editor, Catholic World News

Rachel Lu, Independent Writer

James K. Matheson, DO, Obstetrics and Gynecology

Maria E. Matheson, BSN, DDS

Elizabeth S. Matheson MD, MetroHealth/Cleveland Clinic Emergency Medicine

Colbe Corcoran Mazzarella, Founder, Way of the Cross for Life

John P. McCarthy PhD, Professor Emeritus of History, Fordham University

Ashley McKinless, Associate Editor, America Media

Wilson D. Miscamble C.S.C., Professor of History, University of Notre Dame

Antonio Robert Molle, Irish Pro-Life USA

Joanna Nurmis, Independent Scholar

Brendan O'Connell, Executive Producer and Host, Life Matters TV

Sarah E. Pitlyck, Special Counsel, Thomas More Society

C. C. Pecknold, PhD, Associate Professor of Theology, Catholic University of America

David Richter, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences,

University of Notre Dame

Kimberly Ross, Senior Contributor, RedState.com

Kate Scanlon, Writer

Matthew Schmitz, Senior Editor, First Things

Paul Shaniuk, MD, Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Mark P. Shea, Author

O. Carter Snead, Director of the Center for Ethics and Culture, Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame

Collette and Michael Sweeney, Sidewalk Counsellors for Mothers in Crisis Pregnancies, New York

Timothy and Marcella Taggart, Irish Pro-Life USA

Sean Patrick Tracy, Managing Partner, Tracey & Fox, Houston

John-Henry Westen, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, LifeSiteNews.com

C. J. Williams, Director of Outreach, Rehumanize International

The Friends of Ireland is a coalition of American and Canadian organizations and individuals who esteem Ireland and her heritage, admire her traditions, and are solicitous for her future. Most are descendants of the Irish diaspora, and all value the contributions of Ireland to our common civilization.