The mainstream media – British and overseas – is starting to report on Ireland’s referendum on May 25 to repeal, or retain, the Eighth Amendment to the Irish constitution, which protects the life – “where practicable” – of the unborn child. Such reporting tends to fall into predictable clichés about “modernising” liberals versus “conservative and Catholic” Ireland. But in setting up this rather tired duality, it seems to me the media are missing a more interesting story – which is the increased prominence of an intelligent and articulate generation of Irishwomen who are defending the pro-life cause with poise and confidence. Two younger pro-life women now often seen on Irish television are notably impressive: Maria Steen, 37, of the Iona Institute, and Wendy Grace, 31, a presenter on a Dublin Christian radio channel called Spirit Radio. Both are terrific speakers, fearless yet compassionate, and either of them could be candidates for a brilliant political career. As it happens, both are also pretty, which shouldn’t matter, but in a visual age appearance can bolster communication. Both are married and are mothers. So while the overseas media relapses into tired old tropes about the declining power of the Catholic Church, the Church itself, while stating its position on life issues, is not so much to the fore in the current referendum campaign. Instead, the most visible elements defending the pro-life cause are … women. Cora Sherlock, an accomplished lawyer, of the energetic Pro Life Campaign, and Dr Ruth Cullen, a clinical psychologist of Love Both (mother and baby), are equally remarkable. Caroline Simons is another clever and knowledgeable lawyer, who last weekend appeared on RTÉ’s The Late Late Show arguing the case against liberal abortion for Ireland. Nobody would deny that there are difficult and anguishing cases – rape, incest and a diagnosis that the baby is so handicapped it cannot survive – and in public debates, these women have faced tough questioning. And it’s quite right that the public discourse should involve hard questions, addressing difficult cases. But it’s time to recognise the political narrative here: it’s not the “conservative” power of the Catholic Church that is sustaining the campaign to protect the Eighth Amendment: it’s the driving force of a cohort of educated and motivated Irishwomen, who are bringing some of the fierceness of the maternal instinct to this serious constitutional matter. ....... The German architect Patrik Schumacher has prompted controversy by suggesting that London’s housing crisis could be eased if young people – the “millennial” generation – accept that they don’t always need living rooms in their habitats. They could perfectly well live in small, clean, hotel-sized rooms in central locations near their jobs. I think what he may have in mind is the old-fashioned bedsit, with bathroom and small kitchen added on. He’s been criticised for suggesting that modern Britons should live like medieval peasants, in one room, but I have recently found this experience quite rewarding. My Irish abode – where I spend some time each month – is now a single-room flat, with small bathroom and kitchenette ensuite. I have dubbed it “the Nun’s Cell” because of its simplicity. And I have come to see many advantages in one-room accommodation. You get rid of a lot of stuff you don’t need. You have to become much tidier because a small space doesn’t allow for clutter. You spend much less time doing housework – vacuuming a bedsit takes two minutes. You stop buying ornaments because there won’t be room for them. You live more like those Japanese who roll their beds up each morning to make living-room space. Or, perhaps, like a nun. It might be a confining experience on a permanent basis, but for a young person looking for accommodation as they start out in life, Schumacher’s proposal is perfectly acceptable. Or for an old person wanting to downsize. And it’s surely better than being homeless. ....... Aren’t schoolkids today smart? A teacher tells me that, in the course of an economics lesson, she remarked to her charges that “money doesn’t grow on trees”. One bright pupil pipped back: “Oh, but it does, Miss! Raw wood is pulped to make paper and bank notes are printed on paper – so money does come from trees!” You couldn’t keep up with them! Follow Mary Kenny on Twitter: @MaryKenny4