Photo by: Ciara McMullan, Melt Gala

Naomi was kind to me one day, when I was very lonely and disillusioned. It was a tiny gesture, that meant the world to me, and I will never forget that she took one moment just to be kind, when I needed it most.

My condolences to all of Naomi’s family and friends – she was the very best of us. Grá mór x

My love and care to Alliance for Choice for all you do for everyone x - Lauren Foley

Naomi was an absolute legend. Her legacy will live on in every person who is able to access an abortion here. Rest in Power Naomi. - Michaela Reid

The world has lost an inspirational person. Naomi was incredibly dedicated to everything she did, incredibly wise, sharp and kind. She was a joy to be with and will be badly missed. Rest in power Naomi. With much love, Lesley Hoggart xx

Naomi was am absolute gem. A warrior of an activist, style icon and all around legend. She was an inspiration to myself and many, a fearless campaigner and the kindest of souls. Rest in power, Naomi. Your phenomenal legacy lives on x. - Anna Carnegie

The work Naomi did in the fight for reproductive justice has changed society for the better. A truly inspirational woman that Common Youth had the great pleasure of working along side. A powerful advocate and activist that will be sorely missed. Sending our love to Naomi's family and friends. Common Youth xx. - Arlene McLaren

We are heartbroken at the loss of our much loved sister, dear friend and feminist inspiration, Naomi Connor. Naomi changed the world and we will never forget all she did for us and others, how fiercely she fought for her cause and ours, and how stalwart was her solidarity.
Our thoughts are with her beloved family, her friends, her comrades and all who loved her, and there were so, so many. Thank you Naomi. We love you. Fair wind. - Leitrim for Choice

I am truly grateful and proud to have worked with Naomi. She was the catalyst in creating a “pro-choice interpreters network'’ when lack of commissioning meant that migrant women were blocked from accessing abortion care by some interpreters refusing to work on “conscientious objection” grounds. She inspired with her determination, intelligence, compassion, and style. What a woman. Sending love to Naomi’s family and friends. - Kendall Bousquet Ahern

It was a privilege to get to know Naomi through Alliance for Choice. I am so glad I got to spend time with her campaigning and celebrating the little wins and the big ones. I will always see sparkles and leopard print and think of her. I wish we’d got one last dance to Stevie Nicks. - Emma Gallen

I will never forget or stop being grateful for the time Naomi was generous enough to give me, the spaces she made available or the confidence and wisdom she passed on to me. The world is a better place for her being here and Ferdia will grow up in a better country because of her. - Jill McManus

I am so deeply saddened to hear about Naomi’s passing.

I have such fond memories of our time together at Glastonbury, volunteering at the bar to earn our keep. She approached everything with such incredible style and energy. I still remember her being the absolute master of the Aperol Spritz, with Ryan right there working behind her in his Buckfast tracksuit.

Beyond the fun we had there, her dedication to her principles and her tireless work for others in our community was truly inspiring. She was a powerhouse who stood up for what was right with both grace and grit.

My thoughts and prayers are with Ryan, the children, and the entire family during this incredibly difficult time. She will be missed by so many across all the different circles she touched. - William Welsh

Very impressive woman! Condolences to her family and friends. So sad to hear of her passing. - Kristina Nilehn

What an absolute force who will be so, so missed in the movement. I remember meeting her for the first time 10 years ago - I was 22 and new to this space and she was so warm and welcoming. A champion of young women and the work we started to do at @menstruationmatters_ which meant so much. And I truly mean it when I say, it was seeing Naomi (and women like you) use your voice that gave me permission and confidence to use mine. Our work at @menstruationmatters_ was built off the back of the work Naomi was doing and we dedicate it to her ✨ thinking of you all ❤️ - Katrina McDonnell

I personally have never meet Naomi but she was very helpful to the person I call the closest in my life and for that I will always be incredibly grateful. May we all be more like Naomi in life. Jonathan McCormick

Naomi I will never forget your friendship and your kindness. You should know the impact you have had and made on the lives of so many, the woman and girls that have benefited from your tireless, campaigning for all of us. Your absolute fabulous style, your beautiful smile and your selfless and heartfelt devotion to making the world a better and safer place. You’ will be missed dreadfully but never could you be forgotten. Rest in power Naomi.
With love Lucille O'Hagan

It was an honour to stand with Naomi at an A4C stall, she was always so welcoming and friendly. Deepest condolences to her family, friends and anyone who feels her loss. Rest in Power Naomi. - Nollaig Molloy

Naomi was some woman for one woman. Her spark, her grit, her fashion sense, her radical compassion, her endless capacity for kindness and solidarity, her creative problem solving, her actions against injustice. We have lost an actual shining star. In her honour I will endeavour to be more like her, as an activist, as a mother, as a friend, as a resident of planet earth. May I be half the woman she was in the time I have left. - Mara Clarke

Gutted to learn of Naomi's passing (<- love an auld euphemism). So grateful for Naomi's camaraderie. She beat a path, it's up to us now to carry on down it. Sending love and solidarity to her family, friends and to everyone at Alliance for Choice Belfast.
Cathie Shiels

Beautiful tribute to our beautiful Naomi.

~Sandra

Absolutely devastated to read this news. Naomi was always so kind and welcoming whenever I spoke to her, and she will be so missed. Dara xx

Belfast has lost an absolute legend. An intersectional feminist in every fibre of her stylish being.

I was inspired by Naomi when I moved back to Belfast in 2017 and got involved in pro-choice activism. I was lucky enough to be given time and words of wisdom from Naomi when she was an integral part of a film project, Let Us Be Seen about grassroots activism in Belfast. Sitting in Naomi's beautiful, colourful house with her, admiring her Frida Kahlo cushion and hearing about how she met Angela Davis is such a fond memory! She sat up there with those amazing women in the work that she did and the life she led. Rest in power, you will be missed by so many.

Lots of love from Elspeth X

So sorry to hear about Naomi's passing. She was an inspiration. Love and solidarity to all her family, friends, and comrades x
Aideen O'Shaughnessy

My condolences on the loss of Naomi. I didn't know her and I'm sorry I didn't because she sounds like an absolute legend. So very sorry for your loss. Rossa (AfC supporter)

She left us yesterday.
She wasn't ours to keep.
If I close my eyes I can just imagine the scene....
She sashayed away into the woods.
Leaving a trail of glittery moondust behind her. Multicoloured sequins shining as bright as her smile. She looks fabulous dressed in a riot of colours.
Back to nature, to just 'be'.
..... there is music to greet her, Glastonbury has nothing on it
Waiting for her 'there' wherever that is, I can picture all the amazing Sisters who went before her, waiting on her,
To embrace her,
To hold her,
To keep her warm,
To protect her glow, her spirit, her beautiful aura.
She will join them now.
They will all remain eternally fierce, full of riotous mischief, full of fun, full of magic, full of colour, a machriachal circle rarely broken only occasionally to welcome in another Sister. Yesterday they opened the circle to the best, to our fabulous Naomi, so loved by so many.
She will always be remembered as a woman who stood up for the rights of workers, for oppressed people everywhere, for our Palestinian Brothers and Sisters surviving the ongoing genocide, for womens rights, for the common good, nothing was too much of a challenge. What a legacy to leave us, how lucky we were to know her.
She showed the rest of us how to live a life where activists are celebrated and encouraged and not seen as a burden or troublemakers, in fact she encouraged troublemaking, she made it an artform. She was always sharp, witty and always full of fun. It was a pleasure to be in her company.
She showed us how to use both love and rage to reach our goals.
Naomi helped so many, she taught us so much.
She will always hold a place in my heart, our hearts, she was alot of things to alot of people she was a warrior, a shero, a legend,a feminist, a trade unionist, a protector, she advocated for those who couldn't do it themselves, she offered support to those who felt they couldn't do it on their own, never looking for recognition or glory for herself. Selfless always, the right outcome was the reward. Naomi was full of empathy and was always on the right side of history.
Despite all the magnificent things she did in her public life Naomi excelled in her most important roles that of, a Grandmother, a Mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister and the most loyal friend. Go well Naomi, go well Sister. Sending condolences to all her Comrades & Friends, to Ryan, to Maedhbh, Aoibhínn, her parents, siblings & to beautiful Ferdia, who had the coolest Nanny, my thoughts are with you all. - Sandra Stapleton

REST IN POWER

Naomi Connor, Alliance for Choice Legend…

Sometimes we are sent a friend who is so cosmically aligned that we have no option but to hitch our wagons.

When Naomi came into the Alliance for Choice fold, I was so ready for her energy, her glam and her fight. From being blocked by the Northern Ireland Office twitter, when Covid prevented abortion travel, to being invited to the Queens house for tea by the same office the following year, there should be nothing that surprised people about Naomi’s life and legacy.

Naomi had charm, poise wisdom, fierceness, and a fashion sense of ‘more is more’. Simultaneously she was deadly serious about abortion, VAWG, and sustained activism across multiple fights from Palestine to Trans rights to migrant rights.

Naomi was a safe space and a listening ear for hundreds of women and pregnant people directly over the years. She was an indirect source of support through her endless advocacy and campaigning. She was reassuring for people, she was open-hearted, funny, pragmatic, and she was also a protected place people could leave their often complex feelings about abortion with. Some people will remember her by name, some people will know her from her accompanying them to appointments, buying abortion after-care packages, giving them lifts or just keeping them nattering - if lots of noise is what they needed, or a quiet hand on the shoulder if that was more their way. When someone presented with a pressing need, Naomi was immediately into her unique problem solving mode.

I remember the celebrations and gratitude on the day of decriminalisation at the Assembly, when she pivoted to becoming a guerilla activist by wheat-pasting Irish and internationally known abortion activists on to the street walls around Belfast. She has projected on to the heinous anti choice clinic in Belfast, sold feminist handmade homeware and apparel, she has spoken to schools about abortion and to Secretary of States about her menopause. She has organised clothes swaps and breast casts, doula training and Pro Choice Markets, she has charmed funders and rightly annoyed the DUP amongst many other shades of politician. As well as all of the lobbying and campaigning, she spent hours on the phone to people after being scared by the anti-choicers in Stanton, worried about what to do and how to access abortion or even women who were struggling alone with no one else to confide in. There’s a gorgeous tree in memory of Savita Halappanavar installed in the Women’s Tec site because of Naomi.

Nothing would be more delicious to me than when we were sat with some high falutin’ political scoundrel and Naomi told him exactly what do with his nonsense, no holds barred. I’ve been struggling to try and describe what it is like to lose someone who you joined for a wee hours snack in Glastonbury’s Strumpets with Crumpets, after working a leg melting bar shift to raise money for Alliance for Choice. Someone who bought your wee one the absolute BIGGEST toys, out-whackied you for the headdress with the biggest, barbie-strewn tiara, belted out press releases with me and Danielle at lightning speed, or quickly found that solution for the migrant women or the coercively tracked woman, or the teenager who was terrified or the granny who was also terrified. She was so generous to do the breast cancer shoot for the MAC project, so brilliant when she came up with her costumes for the Array Collective Melt Gala and the Druthaib’s Ball film and so amazing to conceive and produce the Body Politic project.

Importantly - at least 3 women a week since decrim have been helped by Naomi personally through our accompaniment project, even with our amazing new abortion laws, people still fall through the cracks or need someone to think through their options with.

Having a woman like Naomi on your side is amazing because you get to see the best of what feminist, honest and caring power can achieve. Everyone that needed an abortion in NI had Naomi on their side, whether they knew it or not.

I hope wherever her spirit is, they’ve had the good sense to provide a walk in wardrobe and a wee glass of something.

REST IN POWER NAOMI,

Big love to Ryan, Maedhbh and Aoibhínn

Emma - Alliance for Choice

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We are encouraging our friends, supporters and comrades to leave their messages to Naomi below:

Naomi was inspirational - a feminist superstar who brought an incredible amount of good to this world. She was kind, wise, witty, fiercely committed to standing up for justice, and hugely compassionate. It was an absolute honour to work with her and she will be greatly missed. Rest in power Naomi. Sending love and solidarity to all her family and friends, - Nóirín MacNamara xx

Hi tank you for the little igloo and the little campervan tent .
From Luca Campbell Connolly

Despite only knowing her briefly, Naomi was one of the most impressive women I have ever met. She was, and will continue to be, a true inspiration. Sending love and solidarity to all her family and friends! xx - Anna

So sorry to hear of Naomi's passing. An unstoppable activist for our rights, she is a huge loss to the movement, and to all who shared her love and friendship. She shared herself, her energy, her life and she changed laws, hearts and minds. Her star will continue to shine brightly.x dette Abortion Action Campaign

Naomi, you were a sister to all of us in the movement. You never wavered in your belief, never missed an opportunity, never hesitated to include someone, and never failed to have a laugh even in the hard times. The last time I saw you, we were on the bus, going to visit your grandson Ferdia. How happy you were and how much lay ahead, this does not seem fair. But we all had this time with you, and for that we are extremely lucky. We'll miss you. - Elaine Crory

Naomi was a friend, a trade union colleague, a fellow tutor and an absolute force of nature. She'll be sorely missed by all who knew and loved her. Soar high with the angels now and watch over us all from above so we can continue to make changes for the better for everyone. Lots of love and light and hugs to Ryan, Aoibhinn, Maedhbh, Ferdia, Gerry & Mairead, Michelle, Ciaran and Niall xo - Róisín Graham

NIPSA Health & Safety committee were saddened to learn of the passing of Naomi Connor. Naomi was a stalwart of the trade union movement; a long-standing NIPSA official; a tutor in trade union education and a life-long, dedicated powerful fighter and advocate for women’s rights.
In recent years, Naomi fought her illness with the same courage, determination and obstinacy that she had shown throughout her years of representing members.
On behalf of the NIPSA Health & Safety committee, we wish to offer our sincere and hearfelt condolences to Naomi’s husband Ryan and her wider family circle.
Her many friends within the trade union movement will miss her dearly.
Ní bheidh a leitheíd aris ann” - Catherine Arkinson

Naomi was a powerhouse of a woman and the world is a better place because she was in it. She was an inspiration to feminist activists across the north and above all else she challenged us in our activism to have more impact, to be more intersectional. Generations of women found their voice and channeled their anger to become change because of Naomi. My thoughts go out to her family and friends but all the activists who powered through alongside her that are feeling this loss. - Niamh Oddy