@WarriorN thank you for linking to the article, I wouldn't have seen it otherwise.
I am in Ireland and am very aware of the issues about which Julie has written here.
Iseult White (referenced in the article) has come under enormous pressure on twitter, since she took the stance against Amnesty (an organisation I stopped supporting several years ago, due to their position on sex work).
Here, Amnesty is an organisation run by and for men. In Ireland, the Executive Director is a man who overcame being abused as a child, so he is somewhat Teflon with regards to criticism.
I dont believe he has any good insight into issues affecting women, and I dont believe that he takes good account of the power dynamics in Irish society regarding the position of women here.
On another thread here, there is reference to the "woke crowd" (I think the poster is 7Days) in Ireland, who believe that they/we are better than the past.
They seem to believe that Ireland, which banned abortion and divorce and homosexuality, and which imprisoned single mothers, that this Ireland is dead and buried and they dance on it's grave to distance themselves from the mistakes.
Doing so, allows them to luxuriate in the idea that this is the "best little country in the world".
Sad to say, old Ireland is not dead.
It has put on a new dress and a bit of makeup, and it's still alive and kicking.
Jennifer O'Connell had an article in the Irish Times yesterday, praising "strong" single mothers, and postulating that there is no longer any stigma attached to single motherhood.
I beg to differ- in the past 12months, I have heard several instances where a child's behaviour is blamed on a "broken home" or "single mothers".
We, in Ireland, have a loooong way to go, before women's rights are truly protected. There will be lots of backlash "what about the men" (I heard it recently in the context of a women's business support network").
Men have the power in Ireland- they can sort out men's mental health (ref Mitchelstown), physical health, access to business supports etc etc.
Men in Ireland really have no clue about the level of discrimination and silencing that women here continue to experience.