Speaking of I.M.E.L.D.A. explained

Speaking of I.M.E.L.D.A. are a feminist-activist performance group based in London. The focus of their activism is abortion rights in Ireland, and their work built on action by the Irish Women's Abortion Support Group (IWASG) who supported women travelling to England for abortions from 1980 to 2000.^[1] The acronym I.M.E.L.D.A. stands for Ireland Making England the Legal Destination for Abortion.^[2] The group was formed in 2014 by Treasa O'Brien and Helena Walsh.^[3] Their work is a form of art intervention, and direct action. They made a series of interventions as part of the campaign to Repeal the 8th Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland, which in 1983 legislated that the unborn foetus has equal rights to life as the mother.^[4] The amendment to legalise abortion was put to a referendum on 25 May 2018^[5] and approved by 66.4% of voters.^[6] Their performance interventions and use of social media have gathered widespread media attention.^{[7] [8] [9] [10]}

Membership

Founded by Treasa O'Brien and Helena Walsh in 2014, members of the group, and participants in direct actions include: Sarah Cantwell, Sorcha Fhionntain, Tina McCloskey, Cristina Rios, Ann Rossiter,^[11] Lynne McCarthy, Marian Larragy, Tina Ní Bhloscaidh and Anna Carnegie.

Key works

• The Quiet Woman (2014) is a video work that follows the actions of the group as they begin their 'Knickers for Choice' campaign.^[12] The video opens with a clip from the 1952 film The Quiet Man in which Maureen O'Hara cheerfully cleans a domestic space, singing, in a 1950s depiction of a perfect housewife. This is contrasted by footage of the group dressed in red 'cleaning' the facades of political buildings and hanging out washing lines of knickers with messages of protest on them.^[13]
• Knickers for Choice (2014–2018) began with The Quiet Woman and expanded to include many interventions performed by the group and others. They confronted the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, with a pair of red knickers during a Fine Gael dinner in London- serving the underwear onto his plate before being removed by security.^[14] In December 2014, the group travelled to Ireland and scaled the gates outside Leinster House to hang a giant pair of red knickers on them. The message: "Women are not breeding machines. The time to Repeal the 8th is now" was written on them.^[15] A call was made for people to 'knicker bomb' public buildings, and share photographs of their knickers with pro-choice slogans on social media.^[16]
• St Patriarch's Day (2014–) An annual unauthorised intervention to the large St Patrick's Day Parade in London. Starting in 2014 the group, dressed all in red, unofficially open the parade, posing as stewards and marching at the front.^[17]

Further reading

• A Radical Feminist Diaspora: Speaking of IMELDA, Reproductive Justice and Ireland, (2019) in The Routledge Handbook of Radical Politics, Kinna, R. and Gordon, U. (eds)
• Speaking of silence, speaking of art, abortion and Ireland, (2019) Chan, S. Irish Studies Review Volume 27, 2019 - Issue 1
• Bodies under the Law: Feminist Artistic Practice and the Struggle to #Repealthe8th, (2021) Kennedy, S. Éire-Ireland, Irish-American Cultural Institute, Volume 56, Numbers 3 & 4, Fall/Winter 2021

Notes and References

1. May 1988 . Across the Water: Irish Women's Abortion Support Group . Feminist Review . en . 29 . 1 . 64–71 . 10.1057/fr.1988.24 . 189905500 . 0141-7789.
2. Web site: (England) Speaking of I.M.E.L.D.A. (Speaking of Ireland Making England the Legal Destination for Abortion) . 2023-03-16 . Women Help Women . en.
3. Chan . Suzanna . 2019-01-02 . Speaking of silence, speaking of art, abortion and Ireland . Irish Studies Review . 27 . 1 . 73–93 . 10.1080/09670882.2018.1560892 . 149490648 . 0967-0882.
4. Kenny . David . 2018 . Abortion, the Irish Constitution, and constitutional change . Revista de Investigações Constitucionais . en . 5 . 3 . 257–275. 10.5380/rinc.v5i3.60967 . 149842323 . free .
5. Web site: Finn . Christina . 2018-03-28 . Referendum on repealing the Eighth Amendment to be held on Friday 25 May . 2023-03-16 . TheJournal.ie . en.
6. News: Henley . Jon . 2018-05-26 . Irish abortion referendum: yes wins with 66.4% – as it happened . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-03-16 . 0261-3077.
7. News: Eighth Amendment may be gone but mindset that gave rise to it persists . 2023-03-16 . The Irish Times . en.
8. Web site: Dazed . 2018-05-23 . Performing repeal: how comedians are tackling Ireland's abortion vote . 2023-03-16 . Dazed . en.
9. News: Binns . Katie . The secret network that helped women secure safe abortions . . en . 2023-03-16 . 0140-0460.
10. Web site: Duffy . Deirdre . What the new global pro-choice movements can teach politics . 2023-03-16 . The Conversation . en.
11. Walsh . Helena . March 2020 . Hanging Our Knickers Up: Asserting Autonomy and Cross-Border Solidarity in the #RepealThe8th Campaign . Feminist Review . en . 124 . 1 . 144–151 . 10.1177/0141778919894950 . 216519616 . 0141-7789. free .
12. Fletcher . Ruth . March 2020 . Cheeky Witnessing . Feminist Review . en . 124 . 1 . 124–141 . 10.1177/0141778919896342 . 220317901 . 0141-7789. free .
13. Walsh . Helena . March 2020 . Hanging Our Knickers Up: Asserting Autonomy and Cross-Border Solidarity in the #RepealThe8th Campaign . Feminist Review . en . 124 . 1 . 144–151 . 10.1177/0141778919894950 . 216519616 . 0141-7789. free .
14. Web site: Women's right group slap knickers up on Taoiseach's plate at FG fundraiser in London hotel . 2023-03-17 . independent . en.
15. Web site: Barry . Aoife . 2014-12-21 . Pro-choice activists tie pair of giant red knickers to Dáil gates . 2023-03-16 . TheJournal.ie . en.
16. Web site: Knickers for Choice . 2023-03-16 . imelda . en.
17. Web site: St. Patriarch's Day, London . 2023-03-17 . imelda . en.