Tag: women’s rights

We tried today to put a pause, for a year, on shutting down the Commission of Inquiry into the Mother and Baby Homes. They had produced a very flawed Report that many survivors were hurt by. And to add insult to injury, the testimonies given by the survivors to the enquiry were put in serious jeopardy with threats being of permanently erased. I spoke on this in the Dáil today. Tragically, the upshot was that despite the Dáil vote to extend the life of the Commission, the Minister is choosing not to accede to the wishes of the survivors. Interestingly, having said the testimonies were not retrievable, it now turns out (after the survivors fought for the truth) that they in fact are. We’ll keep fighting to have the rights of the survivors, and of history, vindicated. Shame on Roderick O Gorman and the rotten govt he’s part of

THE DAIL WILL DEBATE TOMORROW ON MOTHER AND BABY HOMES. You will probably be aware that the Commission set up to investigate the Mother and Baby Homes scandal, have set out to destroy the testimonies of the survivors. HOW DARE THEY! And Minister O Gorman may, or may not, retrieve a back-up copy of the tapes. For God’s sake – this is important history – is this the best they can do? We say RESPECT THE SURVIVORS – demand those tapes now!

Bríd speaks to the SF motion noting that not only is there not enough refuges, or places in them, for women fleeing violence in their own home, but into the bargain, homeless services don’t recognise domestic violence as a reason for becoming homeless!

SO WOMEN AND BABIES DON’T MATTER? 28,000 women signed the petition organised by Support Maternity Leave Extension 2020. It would be a simple matter to just agree to the extension for the duration of the Covid crisis, and relatively, the cost is not huge. Yet the government, shamefully, are proposing an alternative that makes no sense. I spoke about this yesterday in the Dáil.

While violence against women is increasing, nine of our 26 counties have no women’s refuge. The State has only one third of the refuges needed by women and children fleeing domestic violence. Yet Tusla handed back, unspent, €60 million of money earmarked for children in need, to Minister Zapone – when all over the country people trying to provide a service are being told ‘sorry, no funding’. Those in power misuse their position, and our money. FF / FG have to go.

 

 

A cross party motion on period poverty is welcome, and to be supported. The sickening irony is that many of those supporting this motion, were gung-ho for the policies that caused or exacerbated poverty among so many women, lone parents and precarious workers in particular.