Ireland no longer a country of secrets and shame

But it has, for a long time, also been a country of secrets and shame.

Most of these have revolved around women, what we do with our bodies, and what comes out of our bodies.

Most of the secrets and shame have been shackled to us by the Catholic Church and the political establishment that didn’t have the courage to act independently of that Church.

The results of the referendum are a collective scream for freedom from every patriarchal restraint that has held down women in this country: mother and baby homes, Magdalene laundries, symphysiotomies, sexual violence, Churching, concealed pregnancy, backstreet abortions, botched healthcare, forced pregnancy, travelling for abortions, and of course, the eighth amendment.

People joined the dots of these scars on our nation’s conscience in the form of resounding Xs in the Yes boxes.

We will never again be ignored, shamed, exiled or exported.

Donna Alexander, Douglas, Cork