Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I thought the phrase "quiet revolution" was a perfect one, not as a description of the tremendous, incredible victory from below that took place last Friday, but as a description of the attempt of establishment parties to co-opt that movement and rewrite its history. If the Taoiseach thought it was a quiet revolution, he must have been wearing earplugs throughout the past number of years. It was loud, it was angry, it was described by many establishment commentators as shrill, and it was based on mobilisation. It was those who marched, those who struck for repeal and those who organised civil disobedience through the distribution of the abortion pill who won this. They fought against the majority of the Members of the Dáil, who voted down repeal Bill after repeal Bill tabled by the socialist left. They dragged politicians on a journey which resulted in a referendum, and then they won that referendum absolutely spectacularly. What we saw on Friday and Saturday was a youthquake and genderquake. Yes, it was incredibly positive that huge numbers of people across all demographics voted "Yes", but the result was clearly driven by young people, women in particular. This was seen in the exit polls. Incredibly, there was a doubling of turnout of young women. It was also seen on the canvasses, which, if my experience is anything to go by, involved an incredibly significant majority of young women.

This is also part of an international new feminist wave. It is part of the #MeToo movement in the US and the #NiUnaMenos movement against femicide in Latin America, associated with the feminist strike against violence against women in Spain.

I will leave the Government and the Taoiseach with a warning that they will probably need the earplugs again because this movement will not go away. People have experienced that social movements win change and people will fight against all the oppressions and inequality that exist in our society. They will fight not only for free contraception, for LGBTQ rights to be fully delivered and for the complete separation of church and State, but also for economic equality: pay equality, access to public childcare, full maternity pay and access to decent housing. I call on people to stay mobilised and active and build a movement for the kind of Ireland so many people want to see: a secular and socialist society.

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