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THREE ACTIVISTS WHO led the Together for Yes campaign during the Eighth Amendment referendum have been named on Time magazine’s list of ‘Most Influential’ people for 2019.
Grainne Griffin, Ailbhe Smyth and Orla O’Connor were named in the ‘Icons’ section of the list, alongside newsmakers including Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Michelle Obama.
Donald Trump, Pope Francis and Xi Jinping are among heads of state to make the Top 100 in the ‘Leaders’ category.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was named on Time’s most influential list last year.
The entry for Griffin, Smyth and O’Connor was written by Irish actress Ruth Negga who said that:
Their incredible tenacity and integrity and courageousness will be an inspiration for generations to come.
Negga says that the Together for Yes campaign, “put the Mná na hÉireann (women of Ireland) front, centre and in control of their own bodies and rights like never before”.
RepealEight / TwitterHonoured and thrilled for all who fought so hard for #Repealedthe8th and so proud of the people of Ireland. Tremendous boost for global #ProChoice movement. TFY co- directors among @TIMEMagazine_ 100 most influential https://t.co/8tGIs41pNf
— RepealEight (@repealeight) April 17, 2019
The Together for Yes campaign was an umbrella group a made up of about 70 civil society groups that campaigned successfully for a Yes vote in the 2018 Eighth Amendment referendum.
Griffin, Smyth and O’Connor were co-directors of the group having each campaigned for the holding of a referendum as part of different groups.
Griffin is a founding member of the Abortion Rights Campaign and O’Connor is director of the National Women’s Council of Ireland.
Smyth, who was convenor of the Campaign to Repeal the Eighth Amendment, said Ireland’s result has had an impact beyond these shores.
“We are honoured to receive this accolade from Time Magazine. It is evidence of the significant international ‘ripple’ impact of the Together for Yes campaign,” she said today.
“The referendum result here in Ireland was a real boost for the morale of pro-choice campaigners throughout the word, and we hope it can be a beacon of light wherever and whenever abortion rights are denied, restricted or under severe threat.”
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Wife is getting induced tomorrow with our first child. Bricking it. Not just because of the changes it will bring but worried about them both. Still can’t take in the magnitude of it all but hoping that just being there for her throughout it all will help her.
“Forget about all the advice”… Offers advice!
The best advice I received was to treat the first three months as the fourth trimester. Take to the bed as often as you want/need, breastfeed as much as baba wants, bond, snuggle, have loads of skin to skin contact, sleep whenever you can. Don’t put pressure on yourself to get back out into the world. Those first 12 weeks are a blur, give you and your baby time to get to know each other before venturing outside your bubble. And you’re not alone if you wonder what the f**k have I done! It gets easier!
My daughter in law, who’s Colombian, had a baby three months ago, her second, my sons first. She’s breastfeeding, carries the baby everywhere in a sling and I can honestly say that he’s the quietest, most contented child I’ve ever met! I, a mum of 6, am in awe. We can learn from those less well developed countries, where people still practice the basics. In the first world, we are too concerned with having all the latest gadgets, the prettiest clothes and the horrendously expensive prams and buggies.
Being a parent, the toughest best thing ever, most head wrecking rewarding job going!
Eventually it becomes normal to eat a full roast dinner at ten am cause your up at 5am every morning!!
As a father of two young children I know from experience new mothers are initially reluctant to accept support and like to think they can do everything. They gradually come around though.
It’s a bit hard to ignore the mess when you have OCD. Trust me.
There is nothing wrong with checking out some of Gina Ford advise. It is good to have routines for both parents and child especially if a baby struggles with naps. Other advise regarding preparing meals was also useful to us.
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