Outspoken pro-life campaigner Nora Bennis laid to rest in her native Limerick

NORA Bennis, who regularly made headlines for her outspoken views and passed away this week aged 78, has been laid to rest in her native Limerick.

Married to the late Gerry Bennis from the famous hurling family from Patrickswell, she was a very energetic and forceful voice in a wide range of areas from women working at home to abortion and sex education.

The staunch pro-life campaigner had plenty of followers and secured more than 18,000 first preference votes when she contested the 1994 European elections in the then Munster constituency.

Her funeral took place this Thursday at Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Ennis Road, adjacent to her family home at Revington Park. She was to be buried in St Mary’s (New) Cemetery, Patrickswell.

Nora was daughter of Paul Shinners, a veteran of the Easter Rising. As a political activist, she regularly hit the headlines including when leading a boycott of a sex shop which she described as “filth” when it opened on Ellen Street many years ago.

“I would encourage people to boycott this filth,” she stated at the time.

She also made the front pages when she criticised Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s first public appearance  with his then partner Celia Larkin, saying he was looking for “cheap publicity”.

Mr Ahern, she said, had a responsibility to “reflect the ethos of the nation.” People, she stressed, should clearly stand by the bond of Christian marriage.

After the X Case reopened Ireland’s abortion debate in the early 1990s, she started the Irish Mothers Working at Home Association as a support network for housewives who felt isolated or ignored. In 1994 she became leader of the Solidarity Movement, an alliance of independent political candidates linked to the Family Solidarity pressure-group.

Most recently, she was a candidate in the 2016 General Election in the city but was eliminated on the first count having secured just 673 votes.

Everyone who knew her said she was a very caring person, a point exemplified by her friendship with convicted murderer in the US, Jack Potts, over 20 years. Nora’s daughter Gráinne even visited Potts in prison bringing with her a Limerick GAA jersey.

She was thrilled when Limerick won the All-Ireland hurling title last August, something which unfortunately her late husband Gerry, a lifelong GAA supporter sadly missed out on.

Limerick TD Niall Collins said he was saddened to learn of her death.

“My deepest condolences go to the Bennis family on the passing of Nora, She was an outstanding campaigner who was so well respected. She will be hugely missed by all,” he said.

Nora is survived by her daughters Gráinne, Muirne and Aedín and her son Rory.