• Video Premiere: Dott – Like a Girl

    The month of May is now upon us and with the referendum on the 8th amendment fast approaching we’re seeing a rise of support from artists across the country, urging the people of Ireland to vote YES. We’re pleased to present the Irish premiere of  ‘Like a Girl’ by Dott, featuring a guest appearance from Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz. The video was made by Alison McDonnell-White and features members from Galway Pro-Choice, Galway Parents for Choice and Galway Roller Derby as well as lots of footage of recent marches for women’s rights in Galway. The band along with the many supporters in…

  • Room For Rebellion will host parties in three cities this Friday in aid of reproductive rights campaign

    Irish “Political Party” Room For Rebellion will return this Friday 23rd March for three parties spread across three cities, all in aid of the Irish reproductive rights campaign. The parties will be held in The Black Box in Belfast, Jigwaw in Dublin and The Yard, Hackney Wick in London respectively, with each event featuring a superb line-up of female DJs. In Belfast, local DJ Venus Dupree will join Lisbon’s Violet in providing music all night long while at Dublin’s BYOB party in Jigsaw proceedings will be in the hands of Endrift, Eliza and NTS resident Moxie. For London’s party in Hackney…

  • Alien She’s Manifesto For Creative Aliens

    Make a work that you would make if you were the only person in the world. Don’t worry about pleasing others. A true work will find the people who need it, always, and they will be the people you need to. Trying to please with your work will bring the wrong people to you. Take up space with your work. Use your voice, your unique identity. Stand strong and tall on your own two feet. Shake your body. Feel the vibrations of your song and art. Let it energize and motivate you. Love your thoughts and words. They belong to…

  • Niamh Farrell – A brief History of HamsandwicH

    “So, what’s it like being the only woman in band with all guys?” This question is one that I have been asked time and time again, over the many years I have sang in HamsandwicH. It’s a question that always confuses me. Whenever I am asked, the answer is always “No different I’m sure, to a band with all guys or all girls. We are just a bunch of friends having a laugh and making music.” And yet I have often felt that wasn’t the answer they were looking for. They want something maybe more along the lines of: “Oh,…

  • Women as bitches and how we got here – Rosemary MacCabe

    “Women are awful bitches, aren’t they?” It’s an often-heard phrase, especially when discussing blogger-focused forums – which I do, pretty often. As a sporadic blogger and one-time “social influencer” (a term that means, essentially, that I’ll take money to promote products online, which may be distasteful but honestly, wouldn’t you?), I have a vested interest in said forums – not just because they occasionally talk about me, but also because it’s an industry from which I think I will never be entirely removed. What’s that they say? Once a media shill, always a media shill. It’s a fast-moving world online.…

  • What does it mean to win? – MayKay on Repeal the 8th

    What does it mean to win? Do we all know? Do we all agree? Have we all challenged ourselves to question what it is that we want to personally achieve here? Do we want to be the loudest? Do we want to have the last word? Or, do we want to repeal the 8th amendment? I am not of course talking about the many resilient, brave, inspirational women who have trudged through the mud for our right to choose for longer than we know. I am not talking about the amazing women who have joined them over the past few…

  • Smells Like Team Spirit: Roller Derby Ireland

    Roller Derby has long evolved from fishnet tights and elbows in the face to a well respected fast paced game of endurance, skill, strength and smarts. Barbara Robinson and Oonagh ‘Mauler’ O’Flaherty of Team Ireland share their experiences fresh off the track from the roller derby World Cup in Manchester. Photos by Sara Marsden. Barbara Robinson When I joined the Belfast roller derby team 7 years ago it was just for a fun new way to keep fit and learn how to skate. Before roller derby, I was very shy and had very little confidence. I had no idea how…

  • Triona Farrell – Colouring Outside the Lines

    Growing up, I was enamoured by nerd culture. From video-games to comic books, my hobbies were diverse and engaging. This culture was primarily a male dominated space however. From the comic book fan that sneered at me for wanting to get into Batman, to the many micro-aggressions down through the years, I learned that my gender was on the fringes, a minority in a larger ‘boy’s club’. In Ireland, the nerd culture was sparse, but I still felt it from young men who hid behind social awkwardness, or sleazily attempted to get uncomfortably close. I was closely involved in this…

  • Same Story, Different Tune: Mná na hÉireann’s Place in the Global Music Scene

    In 1989, American audiences were formally introduced to Sinead O’ Connor. To the opening chords of ‘Mandinka’ the 21-year-old from Glenageary strode confidently across the gaping stage of the 31st Annual Grammy Awards; completely alone, briefly wiping her hand across her mouth and gazing out into the darkened crowd, unfazed. Torn jeans and Dr. Martens, she cut a striking image of unconventional female beauty, strength and unmatched musicianship. Sidestepping and shuffling unperturbed across the stage and ultimately the threshold of global success, O’ Connor at this time appeared to bookmark the redefinition of what it meant to be an Irish…