The Pro-Life group Youth Defence staged two protests in the presence of the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, at the weekend. Its members are calling for a referendum on abortion.
At the opening of the FAS Opportunities 2000 careers fair in the RDS on Saturday morning, some 20 members of the organisation stood outside facing motorists holding placards and a banner with "70% is a consensus - Abortion Referendum" written across it.
When the Taoiseach arrived they turned round to face the RDS shouting "Abortion is murder" and "Ahern has no right to sacrifice a life". A number of passing motorists honked their horns in support of the protest.
At 2 p.m. about 45 Youth Defence members gathered outside St Luke's, the Taoiseach's constituency office on Drumcondra Road. Mr Ahern was inside at the time. The protesters carried the same banner and placards with pictures of dismembered babies and the message "Abortion is murder" on them.
Six uniformed gardai were present. One explained that the protest was not an offence as long as the protesters did not block the footpath.
The protesters remained outside the office for about two hours, during which bagpipes were played. A spokesman said the music was a lament for "all the dead babies and the babies threatened with death because of Bertie Ahern's refusal to hold a referendum".
Ms Niamh Nic Mhathuna, chairwoman of Youth Defence, said the protests were to make a point "that in successive polls 70 per cent of the population want to have a referendum on abortion".
She said the wording proposed for an amendment in a referendum should be: "No law should be enacted for the provision of abortion in Ireland."
