As we mark 30 years since contraception was made legal in the country, Fórsa reflects on the young Irish activists that played a crucial role in changing the law around contraception, and the challenges that lie ahead.

Irishwomen United, a feminist group established in 1975, established the Contraception Action Programme (CAP) in 1976 to campaign specifically for the legalization of contraception. CAP members were predominantly young women and drew attention to the class and geographic disparities in relation to access to contraception.

They stressed the absence of women’s voices in debates over contraception and organised public events at community centres so that women could share their views. Initially, activists sold contraceptives such as condoms at the Dandelion Market in Dublin. However, the group soon came to realize the necessity of providing information and services to working-class women and therefore employed radical strategies such as distributing contraceptives in housing estates.

The efforts of CAP intensified following the publication of Charles Haughey’s Health (Family Planning) Bill in 1978. Activists raised concerns that the Bill would transfer power from family planning clinics to doctors and make contraception expensive. CAP members therefore plotted their most radical action yet: a shop called Contraceptives Unlimited which opened on Harcourt Road, Dublin, in November 1978 and where they openly sold condoms, spermicidal jellies, creams, and caps. Despite the illegality of their activities, no legal action was taken against CAP members.

The Family Planning Act came into operation in November 1980, and it soon became clear that many of the class and geographical disparities in relation to access to contraception remained. The Act allowed contraception on prescription for bona fide family planning purposes only, with this stipulation widely interpreted as meaning that contraceptives were only available to married couples. This law was not amended until 1985; from then it allowed the sale of contraceptives that did not require a prescription such as condoms and spermicides to persons over the age of 18 but only at outlets such as chemists or family planning clinics. Today, access to contraception in Ireland is far easier than it was just a few decades ago.

Condoms are easily accessible, and they are commonly sold everywhere, including being handed out for free on student campuses across the country. However, it is important to remember the activists who fought for this right and the struggles they faced along the way. Their efforts changed the law and helped to create a more open and progressive society in Ireland.

But the fight continues and Fórsa is looking towards the future and actively engaging on the next steps to improve equality in society.

At the union’s conference in May 2022, delegates unanimously backed a conference motion for statutory paid leave for victims of domestic violence and menstrual and menopausal welfare policies at work. The conference motions committed the union to actively campaign on the two issues and work is currently ongoing on both.

You can read more about ‘Contraception and Modern Ireland: A Social History, c.1922-92’ HERE.