Big Brother is watching… (and may be restricting your activities)

The run-up to the visit of Elizabeth Windsor to Ireland has seen the Gardaí requesting personal data from people who both live and work on the way she'll wend through Dublin's streets; announce restrictions on movement through those streets; and the City Council bring a postering ban into force (the postering ban doesn't apply to commercial advertising on billboards, obviously). Meanwhile Apple have been criticised for collecting data on iPhone users' movements, and the EU wants your credit card number.

'Calm down, dear!' – the women's movement and the crisis

Cuts to welfare, threats to wage-setting agreements for low-paid work, and rollbacks in public services are all having a severe impact on women in Ireland and across Europe. Not only that, but in classic ‘shock doctrine’ style, the economic crisis is being used to sideline and silence the fight for female equality.

Independents: 'Overwhelming case for bailout referendum'

This week saw calls in the Dáil chamber for a referendum on the bank bailout and the IMF-EU deal. The motion, tabled by the Technical Group, was debated on Tuesday and Wednesday evening. As is procedure, the government tabled an amendment to the motion (effectively a counter-motion) in the name of the Minister for Finance. On Wednesday evening this amendment was voted on with the government winning the vote by 119 votes to 27, thereby defeating the Technical Group motion.

Towards a more equal society - An introduction to CrisisJam's International Women's Day special

When Constance Markievicz became the first woman elected to parliament it was hailed as a great victory for Irish women. While the women themselves were jubilant the irony was not lost on them as the feminist paper the Irish Citizen remarked, "Under the new dispensation the majority sex in Ireland has secured one representative. This is the measure of our boasted sex equality."

Fast forward 90 years or so and one would expect to find a vastly different scenario in Dáil Eireann.

Domestic workers still making dots behind closed doors

Yesterday marked not only the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day but the launch of a global campaign to mobilise support for an International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention for decent work and rights for domestic workers. By Alison Spillane

Launching the campaign, Siobhán O'Donoghue, director of the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI), said the new government should lead the international campaign and establish best-practice instead of waiting for other countries to make the first move.

That good old public sector succubus

Among the many myths of the crisis is the one that depicts the public sector as bloated and wasteful. These claims have little basis in fact. But, as Alison Spillane explains, the advocates of austerity have their tails up and are in no mood to allow mere facts to get in the way of a convenient argument.

Casualties of the Crisis


Yesterday, the staff at the Sunday Tribune collected their last pay cheques. The newspaper, which went into receivership at the beginning of the month, failed to find a buyer – its 43 staff will receive redundancy notices next Monday, 28 February.

Known for its quality writing and keen analysis, the Tribune's voice will be missed in a market that is becoming increasingly less diverse.

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