(ZENIT News / Coleraine, 01.23.2026) – Claire Brennan, 54, mother of four, appeared on Monday, January 3, at the Coleraine Magistrates’ Court in Northern Ireland to face charges for «performing an act within a secure access area» outside Causeway Hospital, where abortions are performed.
ZENIT reported on May 5, 2024, that Claire Brennan was fined £750 for praying and holding a pro-life sign outside the abortion clinic in the area authorities call a «containment zone,» and was convicted on December 2, 2024, by the Magistrates’ Court.
The new court ruling stated that her protest was carried out «with the intention of, or with the recklessness of, if her action had the effect of causing harassment, alarm, or distress in relation to the protected person attending the premises for a purpose mentioned in Section 3 of the Abortion Services Act.» The new charges were brought after Brennan appeared in Coleraine during September, October, and November outside Causeway Hospital.
Brennan was first arrested in October 2023 for praying outside the Hospital alongside her pro-life colleague David Hall, who uses a wheelchair. She was reciting the Lord’s Prayer and holding a Rosary after the Abortion Services Act came into effect, criminalizing pro-life protests within 150 meters of abortion clinics. Police officers asked her to move, and she said that she had «a moral duty to stay here and pray.» An officer told her she was being «really stubborn and ignorant,» and both Brennan and Hall were arrested and charged.
Brennan was convicted of holding an unlawful protest and appealed the conviction, while Hall pleaded guilty. Lawyer Christian Concern called the conviction «an unprecedented development.» The woman filed a motion to recuse the County Court’s Judge President, Ciaran Moynagh, because of his extensive history of pro-abortion activism.
Back in 2024, Brennan declared that the Abortion Services Act is «deeply disturbing, as it tells free citizens they will be arrested if they pray.» She added: «Our laws, beliefs, and culture regarding the defense and protection of life in this country have been trampled on. If we are not free to pray against abortion outside a clinic without being criminalized, then none of us are free.»
And she said before the court: «I am a Christian and a pro-life activist, so it is my moral duty to bridge the gap for the most vulnerable and defend their rights, their right to live. No human being can desecrate what is sacred, and no human being on earth has the right to take life because it is sacred.»
The new hearing before the court regarding the new charges will be on February 2, 2026, and the appeal will be heard later that year. The case continues to raise questions about legislation concerning religious expression and safe access in Northern Ireland.
