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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
6 — village July - August 2012
W
HAT is the current state of Irish fem-
inism? There are those who repeat
the mantra that feminism is dead,
but others who point to signs of a
revitalised women’s movement. The truth is that
feminist activism may be re-emerging, but there
are many challenges to overcome. In assessing
this it is useful to take a historical perspective.
When independence was achieved in 1922, it
seemed that women’s rights would be promoted
in the new state. The modern Irish feminist move-
ment had developed during the late-nineteenth
and early-twentieth centuries alongside the
emerging struggle for independence. These first-
wave feminists aimed to achieve equal suffrage
and end legal discrimination against women. In
1922 the vote was extended to all women and men
over twenty-one.
Up until the creation of the Irish Free State
in 1922, however, serious tensions persisted
between the suffragist movement and those
allied to the cause of nationalism. After the Civil
War, the women who had been most prominent in
the independence struggle, including Constance
Markievicz who had supported the anti-Treaty
side, became less influential in public life. Despite
the fact that women had been so active in secur-
ing Irish independence, independent Ireland was
far from feminist.
Successive post-independence governments,
heavily influenced by the Catholic Church,
adopted a conservative approach to social issues.
For many decades after 1922, there was no sign of
an organised ‘women’s movement’, nor were many
laws passed which were emancipatory of women.
Women tended instead to be active at a localised
level, through the Irish Housewives’ Association
and the Irish Countrywomen’s Association.
Occasional revivals of a more radical wom-
en’s collective voice emerged. For example the
Irish Women Workers’ Union three-month laun-
dry workers strike in 1945 was led by suffragist
Louie Bennett. Women’s voices were largely absent
from the public space. There were some protests
outside the Dáil in 1937 against the inclusion
of the sexist language in Article 41 of the new
Constitution. The three women deputies in the
Dáil have been described as ‘the silent sisters’,
because they made no meaningful comment on
the provisions.
Challenges to the power of the Catholic Church,
and to social conservatism generally, only became
more evident with the emergence of the second-
wave feminist movement in the 1970s. This was
the period when Ireland joined the EEC and was
required to enact equal-pay and anti-discrimina-
tion laws. Ailbhe Smyth has described 1974-1977
as marking a period of high energy and radi-
cal action within the feminist movement. Then
from 1977-1983 she suggests that a consolida-
tion of the movement followed. This included the
establishment of rape-crisis centres and groups
offering support to women suffering violence in
the home. In 1979, a Women’s Right to Choose
group was established.
The 1980s marked a period of political con-
servatism in Irish society. This was a time of
economic recession, with high unemployment
and emigration. The Right mobilised and gath-
ered strength. Smyth sees the years 1983-1990
as marking a succession of notorious political
defeats for the women’s movement. Some liber-
alisation of contraceptive law occurred. However,
a referendum seeking to introduce divorce was
defeated in 1986. This followed another defeat
in the 1983 referendum which inserted Article
40.3.3 into the Constitution denying abortion in
Flowering feminism
Up and down since 1922, Feminism in 2012 Ireland is becoming robust again
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7
all but life-threatening cases. Campaigns against
restrictions on abortion information in the late
1980s were led by students’ unions rather than by
an active women’s movement. Feminism appeared
to be in decline.
A significant turning point was November
1990 with the election of Mary Robinson as
President. Her impressive track record as a cam-
paigner on liberal and feminist issues had been
seen by many as an obstacle to her success. Her
election could be seen as marking a real change
in public opinion on such issues.
Another turning-point was February 1992
and the ‘X’ case. The State had obtained a High
Court order to prevent a 14-year-old pregnant
rape victim from leaving Ireland with her parents
to obtain an abortion. Political uproar ensued, and
the Supreme Court reversed the earlier decision,
allowing X to travel. The Court found that because
she was suicidal, the continuation of the preg-
nancy threatened her right to life. The two rights
were in direct conflict, and in such situations, the
right to life of the girl should prevail.
A number of constitutional referenda followed
the case. People voted to allow travel and infor-
mation on abortion and voted down referenda in
1992 and 2002 which would have ruled out sui-
cide risk as a ground for abortion. In December
2010, the European Court of Human Rights
ruled, in the ABC case, that Ireland’s law on abor-
tion breached women’s human rights. An expert
group is currently examining how the government
should implement this judgment.
The law on abortion remains highly restric-
tive, but on other fronts there were many positive
developments on women’s rights and liberal
reform generally in this period. Male homosexual-
ity was decriminalised
in 1993 and divorce
was introduced follow-
ing a 1995 referendum.
Contraception was
legalised. The academic
discipline of women’s
studies became well-
established. During the
economic-boom years
women entered the
workforce in increas-
ing numbers, although
childcare costs have
remained high and
State supports for
working parents rela-
tively limited.
Since the start of the
economic downturn it could be argued that this
momentum has halted and that there is stagnation
of women’s rights. There are indications of a resur-
gence in activism by the Catholic right, through
mouthpieces such as the Iona Institute.
So where are the feminists now? They are re-
grouping on a range of different issues. In fact,
there are encouraging signs of the re-emergence
in very recent years of a radical, young and active
feminist movement. New feminist groups have
formed.
The Irish Feminist Network (IFN) was founded
in May 2010 by a group of post-graduate students
from the Centre for Gender and Women’s Studies
at Trinity College Dublin. The group is campaign-
ing for change on prostitution law (with the Turn
Off the Red Light campaign) and for abortion
law (with the new group Action on X, set up in
February 2012 to campaign for legislation on
the X case).
In August 2010 Cork Feminista was set up
as a discussion and activism space for women
in Cork. The Feminist Open Forum works on a
range of different issues including abortion and
gender proofing budgets. An annual Constance
Markievicz summer school has been initiated in
Dublin (May 2011 and 2012). Pro-choice groups
like Choice Ireland continue to campaign for abor-
tion legislation. A number of different groups has
emerged, alongside the National Women’s Council,
to campaign for increased levels of political repre-
sentation for women. The 50:50 group aims for
gender parity in Irish politics by 2020. Women
for Election seeks to encourage more women to
enter politics.
A shared commitment to gender equality is
evident in the work of all these groups. The timing
of their emergence indicates a renewed interest in
feminist activism and the potential re-emergence
of a strong and dynamic Irish feminism.
1974 to 1977
was a high
point within
the feminist
movement.
However, 1983
to 1990 saw
a succession
of notorious
political
defeats
.
¨
Irish Women’s Liberation Movement members
about to board the ‘Contraceptive Train’ to
Belfast, Connolly Station, Dublin, 1971
