Eibhlin O'Neill's blog

Irish President Michael D Higgins has apologised to thousands of women forced to work in the country's Magdalene Laundries. The Magdalene Laundries were also known as Magdalene asylums. These institutions were usually run by Roman Catholic orders but were supported by the state. It has been estimated that over 10,000 were confined in these prison like institutions in Ireland. They housed so-called.  "fallen" women who were branded as both a mother and a criminal if they happened to have a child outside of marriage.

The Irish public have voted overwhelmingly in favour of abortion law reform in a referendum. The final result was 66.4% in favour and 33.6% against reform. At the present time in Ireland the Eighth Amendment grants an equal right to life to the mother and unborn and abortion is only allowed when a woman's life is at risk. The referendum has now given the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland) a strong mandate to introduce the legislation to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.

Councillors in the Irish city of Derry (Irish: Doire) have voted to light up local government buildings in the colours of the Palestinian flag. The motion was passed at a special meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council on Monday. It follows events last week when more than 60 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, which met with widescale condemnation in Ireland.

Irish-language manuscripts are the focus of a major exhibition underway at Trinity College Dublin (Coláiste na Tríonóide Baile Átha Cliath). Trinity Library has a collection of over 200 medieval and early modern manuscripts written in the Irish language. Covering over a thousand years of Irish literature and learning, the collection is seen as one of the most important collections in the world. 

A delegation of language experts from the  Council of Europe (CoE) is visiting Belfast (Irish: Béal Feirste) this week. The head of the delegation Dr Aleksandra Oszmiańska-Pagett has renewed calls for an Irish Language Act during the visit. The council is Europe's top human rights watchdog with 47 member states and reports on how states comply with the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.

Simon Coveney, Ireland's Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and Foreign Minister has summoned the Israeli ambassador to a meeting to express Ireland’s “shock and dismay” after the killing of 59 demonstrators with more than 2,700 wounded during protests along the Gaza border yesterday.

Two important proposals are now being looked into following concerns raised by locals and groups supporting them in regard to the replacement ferry service to the island of Toraigh. Toraigh, is 14.5 kilometres (9.0 miles) off the north-west coast of County Donegal (Contae Dhún na nGall) in the north-west of Ireland. The people of Toraigh had mounted a very high profile campaign against a 40 year old vessel, Queen of Aran, becoming the replacement ferry imposed on them by the Department of the Gaeltacht. Significant safety and reliability concerns had been raised.

This year’s National Famine Commemoration will take place on Saturday, 12thMay 2018 in University College Cork.  The event will be hosted by University College Cork in collaboration with Cork City Council. The focal point of the 2018 commemoration will be the launch of The Great Irish Famine Online. A replica mud cabin - An Bothán -  has been built on the grounds of University College Cork as part of the National Famine Commemoration event.

In Ireland it is not unusual to have place names associated with a particular warrior, hero or deity. They can often be linked to those magnificent ancient stories involving the Gaelic gods of the Tuatha Dé Danann. However, place names do not always come from magical times and legends from long ago. Some have a brutally real meaning that point to a site of particularly negative more recent events. Take for example Misery Hill in Dublin, the name of a street that now stands in the redeveloped and  fashionable Dockland area of Dublin.

The Gobbins is a cliff-face path at Islandmagee (Oileán Mhic Aodha), County Antrim, (Contae Aontroma) in the northeast of  Ireland. It is on the Causeway Coastal Route, a driving route from Belfast (Béal Feirste) to Derry (Doire). On the way the Route gives you an opportunity to visit a number of glens and stretches of spectacular coastline.