In a referendum on the 25th of May 2018 The Republic of Ireland voted to repeal the 8th Amendment to the constitution, enabling the government to legislate access to abortion. The public voted by 66.4% to 33.6% to end the ban on abortion, a historic victory for reproductive rights campaigners. In the run-up to the 2018 referendum, as part of our project, Referendum Road: Speaking with IMELDA, we pitched an inflatable sofa in public spaces across Ireland asking the question: Should Ireland Continue to Make England the Legal Destination for Abortion? Our mobile pop-up chat show travelled to locations less frequently reported on, including Waterford, Cork, Ennis, Galway, Sligo and Leitrim. 

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Our Referendum Road Trip, gained attention as it crossed through Waterford, Cork, Clare, Galway, Sligo and Leitrim ahead of the referendum on May 25th. The project contains ten minute films made in each location that gather and reflect on the perspectives of the Yes Campaign at local level and the grassroots people around the country who were working so hard on this issue and who have forced a volte face from many politicians and political parties. Campaigners, musicians, poets, film makers, trade unionists, local politicians and the passer-by have all told us what they think. 

 

The content deals seriously with the questions raised by the referendum but also uses inventive performance to discuss and show the subjects that have haunted the Irish population in the last decade around the historical treatment of women in Ireland, while strengthening the reasons why the 8th must be repealed at regional and local level. The films include performances at Ballinspittle's moving statue in Cork, the peak of Knocknarea mountain in Sligo (mythical burial site of Queen Maeve), bidding on bulls at a cattle mart in Ennis; some female 'powerhouse' busking in Galway, and a performance of 'The Stolen Child' at a waterfall in Leitrim. 

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Since the 1980s members of IMELDA have been amongst those meeting the 10 women a day at airports in London giving some of them financial help, care and shelter. In returning home to support local conversation on repealing the 8th Amendment, Speaking of IMELDA also posed the question:

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Why would Ireland continue to make England the Legal Destination for Abortion?

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In answering this we show the hidden work that has been undertaken by Irish women abroad to alleviate the problem of the 8th Amendment. 

 

These films track the momentum of the Repeal movement and YES Campaign, providing information on how to talk about a difficult subject. During the campaign these provided excellent materials to help convince friends and the undecided. They were also made by the IMELDAs to honour and document the achievements of Repealers and Yes campaigners for five years of long hard work.