DUBLIN REACTION:THE UNITED Left Alliance yesterday welcomed the decision by Marie Stopes International to provide medical abortions at its new Belfast clinic.
"This is a first step in making legal abortion available in Ireland. The availability of abortion in Belfast, albeit under restrictive rules, will take some pressure off those Irish women for whom the continuation of a pregnancy would pose a risk to her life or to her physical or mental wellbeing."
Independent Senator Rónán Mullen said he would like the Northern Ireland Assembly to take action to close down the clinic.
"I think that one thing we can say about the abortion debate in the North is that people on all sides of the community and people of all faiths and none tended in the past to be united in their opposition to abortion," Mr Mullen said.
Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald said she had "really no comment" to make on the clinic. "It's obviously in a different jurisdiction, different situation," Ms Fitzgerald said.
Dr Ruth Cullen of the Pro-Life Campaign in Dublin said it would be deplorable if Marie Stopes was allowed "to impose an abortion regime on Northern Ireland in this manner".
Feminist Open Forum in Dublin welcomed the opening of the new clinic. It said that the service provided by it would make access to abortion much easier for women.