Strike 4 Repeal
Strike 4 Repeal was an abortion rights protest in Ireland on International Women's Day 2017. It called for a repeal of the Eight Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, which bans abortion in nearly all cases, by recognising "the right to life of the unborn".
The protest was organised by Strike 4 Repeal, an ad-hoc, non-affiliated group of activists, academics, artists and trade unionists organising for abortion rights in Ireland. The main march was in Dublin, with 10,000 people on O'Connell Bridge, and later many outside other government buildings. Despite the name "strike" some people took paid holidays that day. There were also protests in Galway, Limerick, Cork & other cities & towns around Ireland. A protest was also held outside the Irish Embassy in London.
It was inspired by a similar Black Protest in Poland several months earlier, which itself was inspired by the 1975 Icelandic women's strike.
The march, and repeal movement, was criticised by some anti-abortion writers.
Some participants thought the coverage of the event on RTÉ, Ireland's national broadcaster, was insufficient, and organised a follow-up picket of RTÉ studios.
In 2016, the Irish government convened a Citizens' Assembly to make non-binding recommendations on this constitutional ban on abortion, and it was still deliberating on the day of the protest. the Assembly hasn't finished its work. The protest also took place as details about the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam were being revealed, with some posters referencing those events.
