FAMILY VALUES IN A SECULARIZING COUNTRY. IRELAND’S GENDER POLICY IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 20TH – EARLY 21ST CENTURY BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT

The paper deals in the issues of the evolution in the gender policy in Ireland and the role in that evolution of the women’s movement and the Catholic Church – two actors who took opposite positions in the process. It considers an influence of the Irish movement for women’s liberation on the change in the gender policy of the state, fighting the influence of the Catholic Church. Based on documents of the women’s liberation movement, legislative documents and materials from periodicals, the dynamics of the gender agenda development is revealed, as well as the factors of its change. The article reviews the change in policy in such issues as contraception, abortion, same-sex marriage, divorce, etc. The author concludes that there was the key role of the Catholic Church in the formation of a patriarchal society in independent Ireland of the first half – mid 20th century and that the disappointment of the Irish in the authority of the church played a significant role in the change of the gender agenda. Contemporary Ireland’s progressive policy on the gender, family and sexuality is associated with the influence of liberation movements in other Western countries, the fall of the influence of the Catholic Church, and the tradition of active women’s participation in the Irish national liberation movement.