Totally Dublin 1
there is one thing to take away from activist pho
tographer Rose Comiskey’s new book, Acts of Defiance, it is that presence is vital. Presence of a camera to point and shoot, presence of people on the street to fight tooth and nail for what they believe in, and presence of this collection of images on the shelves. Rose Comiskey’s new book Acts Of Defiance documents pivotal activist moments in a rapidly changing Irish society. WORDS Leanne Gleeson As with all historical events, precisely when you begin telling the story matters. Rose’s photographs document protests organised and executed by activist groups and collective movements from 1984 to 1992, a bold and emotionally charged period in Ireland’s recent history. This period is comprised of a state in both political and social turmoil – in some ways on the cusp of modernisation, in others, humiliated by the shackles of outdated political thinking. “They kept [the protests] in the news. The media were always there,” Rose notes, on the significance of activism on the ground, “And the government was embarrassed by it.” The ageing rule of Church and State, amicably intertwined with one another, was in denial of an increasing societal rejection of their oppressive and unequal system. Revised ideas of youth, empowerment and identity began to circulate from the 1970s onwards, when groups such as the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement were formed. Once given a space to make manifest, a spirit of rage and passion codified these dynamic activist movements, formulating their own ideas of liberation and equality from the ground up. Travellers March, 1985 In 1983, the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act was approved and signed into law, marking the beginning of a deeply divisive campaign concerning women’s bodily autonomy. The Eighth Amendment banned not only abortion but also made it illegal to give out information about abortion clinics. Acts of Defiance displays evocative imagery from the Post-referendum solidarity marches that took place in the early 1980s. Some are brandishing large signs, some are pushing their children in strollers - all can be seen marching alongside one another. Reagan Protest, 1984 In 1984, Ronald Regan visited Ireland in search of his Irish ancestry. While mystified by the charm of Irish nature, the Republican US president was snapped back into the disparate reality of Irish public opinion by crowds booing during his speech at the Dáil. 33 women were arrested for their participation in movements against Reagan’s visit, with the book containing a testimony from one of the women who was detained without cause. “We organised like our lives depended on it,” her testimony states, “And, for most of us, at that time, it felt like it did.” E MOMENT 1984 also saw the beginning of the Dunnes Stores strikes against the sale of goods from South Africa, which spanned into a 3-yearlong boycott, spearheaded by the defiance and unionisation of supermarket workers, who put their livelihoods and careers at risk in protest against the abhorrent nature of 43