Marks the beginning of lengthening days and shortening

Feminism in Ireland can be identified in the early 1900’s. In 1918, women could only vote at the age of 30 and only if they have property or university qualifications but men were allowed to vote at the age of 21 with no qualifications.

However, in 1922 with Ireland having become separate from the United Kingdom, this gave men and women somewhat the same rights. There were still some ridiculous things that a women could not do.

Up until 1977, a woman was not allowed to keep her job in the public sector once she got married. It was seen that a woman’s place was in the home, taking care of the husband until the Employment Equality Act prohibited this kind of discrimination. Women were also not allowed to sit on a jury and were required to apply to the panel but this still didn’t mean she was allowed. Even though women are now allowed to participate in jury duty, according to an Irish Times article, 57 per cent of the jury in serious cases such as rape and murder are men, meaning women are very under-represented. Women were not allowed to sit in pubs on their own and had to be accompanied by a man. They were also served drinks in small, delicate glasses because it wasn’t normal to see a woman drink a pint. It was only in 2002 that an actual law came into place which prevents the gender based discrimination of goods in the Equal Status Act.

The import, sale and distribution of contraceptives was illegal. However, with the rise of feminism came the rise of empowered women who marched Dublin for contraceptive rights. Sex was seen as something that you do only when you want to conceive a child so the only option was to abstain.

If a women owned land that was passed down from her father, once she got married this land then belonged to her husband. The husband owned everything and ruled everything. Women could not abstain from having sex with their husbands which progression of women’s rights in Ireland

made rape legal within marriage.

A women also couldn’t get divorced from her partner even if she was suffering abuse from her husband. She couldn’t get a barring order against a violent husband. It wasn’t until 1976 that a woman could legally seek a barring order and in 1996 divorce was legalised.

A woman did not receive the same pay as a man until the Employment Equality Acts changed this in 1974, however, there are still speculations that some companies do not abide by this law.

Until 2018, a woman could not terminate her pregnancy unless for fatal fetal abnormalities however the case of Savita Halappanavar showed that she was not allowed a termination despite a threat to her life which resulted in her death.

Feminism has come a long way since the 1930’s however the fact that Irish women had to fight for the new abortion legislation, it shows us that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.

Rachel Power discusses alternative ways to spend your New Year’s Eve “ Inviting friends around for a fun night of board games or cocktail making is another fun, calm and interesting way to spend the evening A s the end of the year looms closer, celebration ideas are tough to choose from especially when going into town is such a norm nowadays.

If going out for a crazy night of dancing, chatting and partying isn’t as calm and relaxing as you want, never to worry as there are plenty of other things you can do to ring in the new year.

Celebrating New Years Eve alone is never an optimal idea, so make sure it’s a happy one surrounded by those you love and value in life by throwing a small or big get together in your house. Plenty of ideas to make the night fun are easily thought up. If you want to opt for a small group with a few friends, throwing on the tv and sticking on your favourite movies for a classic marathon can never go wrong.

Grabbing a few snacks and a bottle of bubbly to help make the celebration even more fun, or if you’re avoiding alcohol, sparkling water or soft drinks will add to the relaxed and comfortable tone for the evening.

Staying in and cooking up a good dinner can also be a fun idea, excluding the cleaning up afterwards of course. Something similar to that of a Christmas dinner but with more of a twist can be fun, especially if you want to experiment with a few favourite dishes.

Making it into a real full course experience with starters, mains and desserts can turn the evening into a real treat and make it really special. It can also turn out to be far cheaper than going out for a meal with ingredients often costing less than a restaurant meal. But if you aren’t feeling up for all the cooking, plenty of restaurants are open on New Years Eve, but be sure to book them as they will be difficult to get into on the night.

Inviting friends around for a fun night of board games or cocktail making is another fun, calm and interesting way to spend the evening. Sticking on a good playlist of party tunes to keep the celebrations going can make the night far more fun.

Cocktail ingredients such as juices are easy enough to snatch up in the shop, but different liquors might run you up on the money side of things. And of course, there’s always the option of non-alcoholic cocktails containing juice mixtures for those who wish to stay sober.

As always going out to town for a night out is a good reliable way to enter the new year, and whether it’s a club or local pub, the atmosphere is always thriving and the places are always buzzing with people.

The only minor problem with going somewhere like the city centre or the pub is the crowds that you’ll inevitably have to battle through, as well as the growing level of drunk antics around the place. But if you don’t mind that, or are even open-minded to joining in with this type of fun, by all means it’s another fantastic idea to bring in the countdown.

No matter what you plan to do on New Years Eve being surrounded by friends and family will always make for a good night of celebrations.