The government decision to seal the Mother and Baby Homes archives for 30 years has been met with huge backlash from working-class communities. The move to seal the documents for three decades, despite survivors concerns, can be regarded as another form of abuse on working-class women – with survivors noting that for those impacted “consent was taken from them when they were in institutions, and was being taken away again”.
In the deepest sense, it is more of the same and a betrayal by the Greens of the vote for change they benefited from in February and in last year’s local and European elections. Fine Gael, who led the last Government, and Fianna Fáil, who propped it up, are the two biggest parties in this one.
Debenhams Ireland workers were sacked by email on Easter Thursday — just two days after the company had assured them their jobs were safe. Such callous indifference to workers — some with decades of service going back to Roches Stores and the launch of Debenhams into Ireland in 1996.
General Election 2020 was historic. It was only the second time that the combined vote of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael went below 50%. 2016 was the first, when it dipped just below 50% by 0.2%. However, this time it plunged to just 43.4% — an historic low.
