Cillian Murphy.Getty Images
Irish actor Cillian Murphy’s thoughts on abortion - and the media’s response - have been slammed by the Irish Pro Life Campaign.
Murphy, a native of Co Cork, mentioned abortion when discussing Ireland in the mid-1980s, which serves as the backdrop for his newest film "Small Things Like These," an adaptation of the award-winning novel by Irish author Claire Keegan.
A synopsis says the film reveals truths about Ireland's Magdalene laundries - horrific asylums run by Roman Catholic institutions from the 1820s until 1996, ostensibly to reform “fallen young women.”
“Let’s put it into perspective,” Murphy, 48, told The Irish Times in an article published on October 26.
“It’s 1984 going into 1985. In 1984 you had the Kerry babies. In 1985 you had the moving statues. No abortion. No divorce. I think you were just able to get condoms, maybe by prescription.
"But it’s like the f**king dark ages compared to now. The film deliberately is trying to blur the lines. When you look at it, it could be the 1950s in many ways.”
In a statement issued on their social media channels on Sunday, November 3, the Irish Pro Life Campaign said: "Given how utterly predictable some sections of the media have become, the Oscar winner was never in any danger of receiving the slightest pushback or questioning from journalists for his throwaway comments.
"Instead, remarks like the ones he made are treated with the utmost reverence and respect, akin to the incurious and unquestioning period in our history that they rail against so hard. The absurdity of all this appears to be completely lost on them.
"When Murphy links the time when no abortions happened in Ireland to the dark ages, presumably he regards the new abortion regime here as a model of enlightenment and compassion. One wonders what he thinks of the 2020 study from his hometown, conducted by UCC researchers (published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology) which revealed that under the new abortion law unborn babies have survived late-term abortions and have been left to die alone unaided? Or does it concern him that a recent article published in the Journal of Medical Ethics states that there is now compelling evidence that unborn babies may have the capacity to feel pain as early as 12 weeks gestation, with a large body of evidence indicating for years that unborn babies can feel pain from 20 weeks or earlier.
"If someone is prepared to tie no abortion in Ireland to the dark ages, they should be prepared to answer straightforward questions like the ones above. And if journalism in Ireland had any integrity or interest in truth telling, people like Cillian Murphy would be asked some pressing follow-on questions when they make outlandish claims."
In 2018, Murphy was one of the famous figures who lent his support to the 'Repeal' campaign, which called for abortion to be legalized in Ireland.
“Men and women are custodians of this society and we both decide what’s going to happen for our future," Murphy told podcast host Blindboy Boatclub ahead of the vote.
"I feel that very, very strongly.
"And I think, you know, that you can be well-intentioned and say ‘look, it should be for women to decide this’, but we need to go out and support women on this."
He continued: “That’s the really the thing that has hit home the most because I have a lot of friends that are out canvassing and that are working on behalf of various campaigns and then you hear that from men, they support it, but they’re like ‘we don’t want to get involved."
On May 25, 2018, Ireland voted via referendum 66% in favor of repealing its eighth amendment, which had prohibited abortion. Abortion services, with some restrictions, commenced in Ireland on January 1, 2019.
In July, a Department of Health report detailed that there were 10,033 abortions carried out in Ireland in 2023, a significant rise from the 8,156 terminations carried out in 2022.