The Dublin Lock-Out took place during a time of struggle on many fronts. In Ireland, as in other British colonies across the world, popular movements for national liberation from imperialist rule were growing in strength. Workers were taking action to gain labour rights and the right to self-organisation. Women were stepping up the fight for equal suffrage.

The trade unions of the time forbade women from becoming members and so were of no help to the striking Jacob’s workers. Thus, The Irish Women Workers Union (IWWU) was founded in 1911 by James Larkin and his sister Delia.

3,000 female workers at the factory downed tools, demanding better wages. According to the census of that year, the average male labourer’s wage was less than a pound a week, with women earning half as much. At Liberty Hall, the headquarters of the ITGWU, teams of women successfully organised by Delia Larkin, Constance Markiewicz, 18-year old Rosie Hackett, Abbey actress and activist Helena Moloney and others prepared daily breakfast for 3,000 children. They made hot meals for families, repaired and distributed clothing and organised material aid collections, outings for children and solidarity activities, akin to that of the Breakfast Programme of the Black Panthers decades later in the USA.

Between 1911 and 1913 relationships between the workers and the management deteriorated steadily.

In September 1913, women workers were locked out of the Jacob's factory for wearing the badge of the IWWU and not showing up for work.

Women were the lowest paid and most exploited workers, and played a pivotal role in the lockout.

They were some of the most militant and determined class fighters - they were the last to return to work after a heroic 6 months. Women were at the forefront of battles with the police, with hundreds arrested and imprisoned in connection with the dispute, many of them just teenagers.

The Catholic Church, vehemently opposed to the union movement, had blocked a scheme which would allow workers’ children to be looked after by British trade unionists during the protest, worried the children would fall under the influence of Protestants and Atheists.

Many IWWU members were imprisoned during the Lockout, with some committed to institutions like Drumcondra’s High Park Convent, a Magdalen Industrial school run by nuns.

Although eventually defeated, the actions of the ITGWU and the IWWU in the 1913 lockout resulted in a change for the better for working conditions in Ireland. Worker’s solidarity and the importance of unions had also been firmly established, making Ireland a better place for everyone.

Today, women still make up the majority of low-paid workers. In April 2020, Debenhams UK announced 0 of its 11 Irish outlets would reopen after the coronavirus pandemic, making its 1,000 mostly-female workforce redundant. The strike had focused on preventing stock and company assets being removed from closed stores while raising attention to the workers’ calls for four weeks of redundancy settlement per year of service. This was the longest industrial relations disputes in Irish history - 406 days. It was carried out by mostly women.

The Debenhams pickets prompted a bill in the Dáil which seeks to improve workers’ rights in the event of a company's liquidation. This week, the film '406 Days' premiered - directed by Joe Lee and produced by Fergus Dowd, and has been chosen to close the Dublin Film Festival. It has just won the Irish Council for Civil Liberties Human Rights Film Award.

Looking back at the Dublin Lock-Out must be not just a commemorative action, but one which gives us lessons for the struggles we are now engaged in. Women have always been at the heart of these struggles. IWD began with working class women fighting for labour rights, but it has now been highly commercialised and used to 'pink-wash' the image of corporations and to celebrate female CEOs and celebrities. Sheela reminds us of the real roots of International Women's Day - so that we can work for a society that benefits ALL women.

The toxic 'Manosphere'/'Red Pill/Alt-Right' corner of the internet is nothing new, and has been around for over 20 years. It consists of PUAs (Pick Up Artists), MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way), Incels (Involuntary Celibates), MRAs (Men's Rights Activists) and more, promoting misogyny, white-supremacy and opposition to feminism. It has had many 'faces' that would rise to prominence, such as Dick Masterson, Roosh V, Paul Elam and Jordan Peterson - who'd then fade into irrelevance until somebody else filled the vacuum.

Although it was a relatively obscure area of the internet, existing on the fringes, it began to grow more established after the advent of social media and when feminism began another wave. And since the ubiquity of Tiktok, the 'manosphere' has exploded into the mainstream

Styled as a cartoonish self-help guru, offering his mostly male fans a recipe for making money, pulling girls and “escaping the matrix”, Andrew Tate has gone in a matter of months from near obscurity to one of the most talked about people in the world. In July, there were more Google searches for his name than for Donald Trump or Kim Kardashian.

His rapid surge to fame was not by chance. Tate had been chasing notoriety and fame for 15 years, appearing on a reality TV travel show in 2010 and Big Brother in 2016. Subsequently, he began to appear on many podcasts and followers of Tate were told to flood social media with videos of him, choosing the most controversial clips in order to achieve maximum views and engagement - the vast majority of traffic coming from Tiktok.

Due to the short form, addictive content hosted by Tiktok (and now copied by Instagram Reels/YouTube Shorts) and the sophisticated algorithm, these attempts to force Tate onto as many 'For You' pages as possible have been wildly successful, and made him millions selling his bogus 'Hustler's University' online course.

In these clips, Andrew Tate has said that women belong in the home, can’t drive, and are a man’s property. He said that rape victims must 'bear responsibility' for their attacks and dates women aged 18–19 because he can 'make an imprint' on them. In others, the kickboxer – who poses with fast cars and guns, a talks about hitting and choking women, trashing their belongings and stopping them from going out. The clips collectively have billions of views.

Disturbingly, teachers around the world recently said that their young male students have been harassing them and their female classmates using Tate's rhetoric.

Courses now exist for already overworked and underpaid teachers on how to tackle these regurgitated views. However, it is vitally important for parents to speak to their children about this and not leave it up to teachers. Parents must step out of their own echo-chambers and be aware of these alternative spaces online where their children may frequent. It is the reality of being a parent in the age of the internet.

However, this is such a small part of the real systemic issue.

The world's best engineers, psychologists, programmers and billions of $ are spent on trying to steal the attention of both adults and children. No individual parent can possibly compete. We must demand effective digital landscapes that align with our human goals and needs, rather than appeal to the weakest parts of ourselves - taking advantage of our dopamine responses; preying on the addictive tendencies within us in order to make huge profits. The duty of care should truly fall on governments, regulators and of course, the social media giants themselves.

Although Tate eventually got banned recently from all major platforms, this was well after his meteoric rise and when he had already entered the mainstream, making millions. Many more copycat 'influencers' are currently spreading similar messages across social media, and some other 'guru' will rise to such prominence again.

Sheela stands defiantly outside TikTok offices, demanding that social media giants are held accountable and that more is done to tackle online misogyny.

Women and children are facing a ''terrifying situation'' following the Government’s decision not to extend the ban on evictions, National Women’s Council director Orla O’Connor told hundreds of demonstrators in Dublin city centre on Wednesday, March 8th. She said the Government’s decision not to extend the moratorium on evictions, which will come to an end on March 31st, would force single parent families – and primarily women and children – into homelessness.

“We know that women are at most risk of poverty in Ireland, and particularly migrant and disabled women,” she said. “It is also the case for one-parent families, and one-parent families were dealt a devastating blow yesterday with the end to the eviction ban.

“They are most reliant on private rented accommodation, and they are most at risk of homelessness. “What happened yesterday was a disgrace, because we know that more one parent families will enter homelessness, and it is a terrifying situation for women with children.”

“Women and children will be on the streets because of this,” Ruth Coppinger said. “It is hard to think of a more cruel and callous policy to be carried out at this time. “For all the sob stories of accidental, reluctant, and potentially homeless landlords we’ve been hearing about in the media, the beneficiaries of the lifting of this ban are institutional investors and vulture funds.” (The Irish Times).

Nationwide, more than 3,000 families could be out on the street by April with little hope of finding new accommodation on short notice.

Ireland has higher rate of female homelessness than any other EU country, Moreover, women and children who have left violent homes and are now in shelters are not being counted as homeless. These refuges are now full, and women and children struggle to find shelter. Some are forced to return to their abusive homes as they have no where else to go.

In 2022, the number of homeless people increased by 30 per cent. In the latest Residential Buildings Report from GeoDirectory, as of December 2022 there were 83,662 residential properties VACANT in Ireland. The housing crisis in Ireland began 10 years ago as rents rapidly began to rise. The average rent at the end of 2022 was 126% more than it was in late 2011, and is ongoing. House prices have also more than doubled.

Holly Cairns, TD: “Political choices made by successive governments have resulted in the aspirations and dreams of an entire generation be either diminished or destroyed. Nowhere is the political betrayal of young people more evident than in the housing disaster. Fine Gael has been in government for almost my entire adult life. Your party first promised to address what was a housing crisis in 2014. Nine years later, promises have been broken, targets have not been met, and lives are being ruined as a result.”

On the recent lifting of the eviction ban eviction ban: ''Taoiseach, I think it’s quite telling that you’re reduced to trying to blame the opposition consistently for a housing disaster that has exploded during your 13 years in office, is that really the best you can do? I know I’m new to this but I think being a leader is about taking responsibility for the things that have happened on your watch. You said you’ve weighed up the pros and cons and on balance, you’ve decided to make this decision.''

This Sheela watches over a huge derelict mass of buildings in the heart of the city; one of thousands that has laid neglected and disused for years, as homeless people lay right outside - that number growing.

Sheela has hope that we are on the verge of a colossal shift in Irish politics.

Waterloo Rd, Burlington Rd, Wilton Rd and the canal end of Baggot St make up a very historic red-light area, although not so in use any more. Just over the bridge from Waterloo on Haddington Rd, there is a health service for women in the sex trade called the Women's Health Project. The WHP also provide support to victims of trafficking. The project provides a free sexual health drop-in clinic with no appointment necessary. It includes full sexual health testing, treatment and contraception. Its existence in proximity to the historic red-light area is strategic.

Although this area is not so in use anymore, a website called Escort Ireland (EI) absolutely is. Advertising prostitution is illegal in Ireland; EI operates from a foreign jurisdiction to evade this law. It holds a monopoly over the sex trade in Ireland and in 2015 turned a profit of over 6 million. Paying for sex is also illegal, since 2017.

On the EI website men can peruse women's pictures, look at their 'favourites' (sex acts the women will allegedly do) and read their 'reviews'. Men rate women out of 5 stars for 'physical appearance', 'location', 'satisfaction', 'value for money' and 'overall experience'. The reviews, both 'positive' and 'negative', are disturbing, dehumanising and revealing. Either it is acceptable for men to rate and review women's appearance, personality and sexual 'performance' or it is not. Money being exchanged does not negate this misogyny.

Sex traffickers have advertised women on this website and there are no consequences.

Last year, prostitution was named as male violence against women in the Third National Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Strategy. Now we need to commit to that and end these websites that facilitate rape, sexual exploitation, sex trafficking and abuse, and which allow the men to review the women they exploit afterwards. This is commercialised sexual abuse on a large scale.

Sheela asks you to please sign this petition in our IG stories and help to end Escort Ireland and all websites that facilitate this particular and very hidden form of sexual crime (link in stories), and to read more about EI.

If you disagree with our message maybe our project isn't for you. Yes we believe that legalizing the sex trade will only make it easier for women and girls to be trafficked and abused. Yes we do believe it should be illegal for men to pay to abuse women. No we don't think woman engaging in sex work should be punished or shamed. Yes we have spoken to sex workers and former sex workers. No we don't have to agree or engage in debate with everyone that comments on our page, who has the time for that? No we don't have to leave comments on our posts that oppose our message. No we are not religious, we are atheist. We believe that feminism is about what's best for all women not just individuals. We understand that this is very nuanced but for every woman that says they choose to be in the sex trade, there are thousands of women and girls, many migrants and minors, who are forced/coerced into it. This website facilitates in the trafficking of these women. The reviews are extremely revealing and show how the men really feel about women.

Iranian woman Mahsa Amini died at the age of just 22 following a brutal beating by the Iranian "morality police" because some of her hair was showing under her hijab. Her needless death sparked outrage and revolution in Iran, with wide spread protests to end the Islamic regime. More than 19,600 people have been arrested during the protests, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran and at least 527 people have been killed as authorities violently suppressed demonstrations. Iran hasn't offered a death toll for months. Four of these protestors, all men, have been executed by hanging following sham closed-door trials. Sheela stands defiantly looking at the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran here in Dublin on Mount Merrion Avenue. Sheelas asks why we as a country have not expelled this embassy for it's horrific treatment of women and the Iranian people who dare to stand for womens human rights.

In January this year Jake Boles walked free from court with a suspended sentence after being found guilty of assault and coercive control. Admitting to slamming his ex-girlfriend Jody Duggan’s head against a wall, smothering her with a pillow, spitting in her face and throwing her down stairs. This is just one case but it is not an unusual one. In Ireland victims of men's violence face a second assault in court when their attackers regularly walk free or with light sentences, while victims have to listen to character references read out in court calling them lovely fellas. The message being sent out, is what's the point in going through the agony of a trial when your abuser will not be punished or rehabilitated. One judge in particular has continually given suspended sentences or fines instead of jail time, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court judge Martin Nolan. In February of this year Judge Nolan gave a suspended sentence to Josh Conlon age 19, for his role in a two hour attack on a woman. She was tied up, assaulted, hit repeatedly with a stick and scalded with boiling water. Conlon smiled and have the finger to cameras as he left the court a free man. There is currently a petition for the resignation of Judge Nolan, it has 42,101 signatures with a goal of 50,000. You can sign the petition through the link in our stories. Sheela stands here beside Dublin courts to demand adequate sentences and complusory rehabilitation and counselling for these offenders.

Evidence of the many crimes committed by the Catholic Church on Irish women are never far from view, you just need to know where to look. This housing estate in Drumcondra is the former site of the High Park Magdalene Laundry founded in 1853, formally known as Mary Magdalen Asylum’ established in 1831. The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity sold part of the land for £1.5m to developers in early 1993, then the Laundry was sold seven years later for €6.68m, and finally six years later in 2006 the rest of the land was sold to a developer (now in receivership by Nama) for €55m, a total of €63,180,000 million euros for The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity.

Part of the land now a gated community inside this estate known as "The Court" contained a graveyard. The sisters needed to move the graveyards contents so this new development could be built. They contacted Patrick Massey Funeral Directors and asked for a price for exhuming the bodies from the graveyard and reburial/cremation of the remains. The solicitors employed by the sisters stated to Masseys "our clients wish to keep costs to a minimum’. Because of this, cremation was deemed the appropriate action. The sisters wanted to spend as little as possible laying to rest the women that had worked for them as slaves. The women were cremated and the urns were buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, for £41,350, half of which was paid for by the developers. The nuns had told Masseys that the graveyard contained 133 women. Only 75 of whom they had death certificates for. During the exhumation process additional remains were found bringing the total to 155 bodies. Imagine any other organisation being able to dispose of 80 unidentified bodies with no death certificate stating cause of death! Literally anything could have happened to these women and they will never be identified now due to the cremation. The sisters broke the law when they failed to register the deaths of all the women who died in their care, but there has been no legal consequences for them, instead they have profited greatly from the cover up.

For context as to the conditions women endured during their time at High Park Laundry we can look to the story of Mary Merritt, now 91 years old. Mary describes long grueling work days in the laundry, having her head shaved, being locked in a small room with no windows and deprived of food as punishments. Mary was raped by a priest during her time at High Park, she became pregnant and was taken to a mother and baby home where her child was taken from her and she was then returned to the laundry. At 31 and having spent her whole life institutions, she was released from the laundry with no money and no where to go. Luckily a kind stranger found Mary on the street and helped her get a job and a place to stay. Mary now speaks out on behalf of Magdalene survivors.

Sheela stands here to remember all the women exhumed from this site and all women that suffered during their time at this Magdalene Laundry. Sheela asks us to demand justice for the churches crimes committed here and across the country. This year the government passed the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022. However, the redress scheme has faced enormous scrutiny due to its narrow eligibility requirements, which exclude around 40% of survivors. This is not good enough. Sheela asks us to stand for justice for ALL victims of the Catholic Church.

To read more about this issue visit Justice for Magdalenes Research here: http://jfmresearch.com/

On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States of America issued its landmark 7-2 decision in Roe vs Wade, the piece of legislation that made access to an abortion a federal right in the United States. The case was brought by Norma McCorvey—under the legal pseudonym “Jane Roe”—who, in 1969, became pregnant with her third child. McCorvey wanted an abortion but lived in Texas, where abortion was illegal except when necessary to save the mother’s life.

Her lawyers filed a lawsuit on her behalf in U.S. federal court against her local district attorney, Henry Wade, challeging that Texas’ abortion laws were unconstitutional. In her lawsuit, McCorvey alleged that the state laws were unconstitutionally vague and abridged her right of personal privacy, protected by the First, Fourth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments. This case reaffirmed basic principles of equality, reinforced the fundamental right to privacy, and resolved that American women could control their bodies and destinies- making deeply personal decisions free from political interference.

For 50 years, this law remained a balanced decision with broad national consensus that the majority of Americans have continued to support. It was a constitutional principle held by justices appointed by Democratic and Republican Presidents alike.

But on Friday, June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a decision that swiftly dismantled 50 years of legal protection and opened the door for individual states to curtail or outright ban abortion rights. This has resulted in placing the health and lives of women across the American Nation at extreme risk, even death. This action also placed threat to other fundamental freedoms, including access to contraception and the right to marry who you love. Millions of women now live in States with extreme limits on access to abortion, many without exceptions for rape and incest, or, where doctors can be jailed for providing reproductive care.

Sheela stands strong and defiantly at 400 North Ervay Street in Dallas, Texas, at the original courthouse where Roe vs Wade was argued.

She stands in honour of generations of women and other advocates who have fought for reproductive freedom. Sheela connects us to the deep waters of our wombs and delights as all women freely choose how they wish to dance and flow within their sacred waters of life, and the inner and outer seasons of their body. Her call echoes to all women of this land to pick up their oars, leaving the safe shore, rowing bravely into unchartered times to restore their goddess-given right to choose.