International Women’s Day 2021 – Lasair Dhearg
Today on International Women’s Day, we remember all the women who came before us, who bravely fought for the equality of our gender, our nation, and our class.
Nicola Nic Gabhann, of Lasair Dhearg, said, “It was IRA Volunteer Mairéad Farrell who said that ‘we can only end our oppression as women, if we end the oppression of our nation’. Likewise, ‘Ní Saoirse go Saoirse ma mBan’ is not just a slogan to be recited, but it is a reminder, that none of us are free until all of us are free.”
“Women have always been instrumental in the anti-colonial, anti-capitalist struggle, whether that is here in Ireland or elsewhere in the world. Many of the women involved in our struggle bravely gave their lives in the pursuit of freedom, including Mairéad Farrell, Maire Drumm, Winifred Carney and Miriam Daly, amongst many, many others. We remember their sacrifice by dedicating ourselves to the eradication of inequality, in all its many forms.”
Lasair Dhearg’s Martine Jackson said, “As James Connolly wrote, ‘The worker is the slave of capitalist society, the female worker is the slave of that slave’.”
“As we strive for freedom from capitalism, we must also strive for freedom from patriarchy, and the patriarchal attitudes which still exist within our communities today. As we struggle to bring an end to the political, social and economic system which subjugates our class and our nation, so too must we struggle to end the violent ideology which seeks to subjugate women on the basis of our gender.”
Martine finished, adding, “We must fight for real lasting social justice and equality for all within a Socialist Republic. A Republic that will foist upon its flag the rights of those who hold up half of the sky.”
