The Republic of Ireland has come through great social changes. In progressive legislation, it could now be regarded as a model for its neighbour.

Subject: RE: BBC Radio: Folk Map of the British Isles From: GUEST,henryp Date: 11 Feb 20 - 03:39 AM

I wonder if Seth Lakeman will find any musical record of the enormous social changes that have taken place in the Republic of Ireland. Look at the lifetime of Edna O'Brien.

She said, "I rebelled against the coercive and stifling religion into which I was born and bred." Her first book, The Country Girls, published in 1960, was added to the long list of books banned in Ireland under the Censorship of Publications Act, 1929. By 2012, Mary Robinson, the President of Ireland, recognised her as "one of the great creative writers of her generation".

Although she married and moved to London in 1954, her main subject remains Ireland. Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland has grown into a modern, liberal state.

P.S. There are still countries where girls desperately need protection. Now in her eighties, Edna O'Brien wrote her most recent book, Girl, after she travelled to Nigeria to speak to girls who had been kidnapped by jihadist group Boko Haram.