A delegation made up of Macra na Feirme’s vice-presidents Elaine Houlihan, Claire Gough and Luna Orofiamma, along with TDO Debbie Donnelly, met with Minister for Justice Helen McEntee virtually recently.

The delegation discussed domestic abuse, how to make nightlife safe in Ireland and the fear many young people may have when faced with these situations.

Nightlife safety should be a continuous topic in media and conversations, but not in the case of victim-blaming.

Ask Angela campaign

The Ask Angela campaign was discussed. This is a code word campaign for people who are not feeling safe on a night out.

The idea behind the initiative is to encourage people to “ask for Angela” at the bar.

This should then alert bar staff that something is troubling the person.

Macra na Feirme is in favour of a wider role out of this initiative.

Last year, Kilmallock Macra launched a great initiative in partnership with the gardaí and Adapt House. This initiative was the Purple Pill Box initiative in the community.

The idea behind it was to enable victims of domestic violence to access support and advice at local pharmacies by asking for a “purple pill box”.

The meeting overall was extremely positive and Macra na Feirme look forward to further meetings with the minister on topics that concern rural young people in Ireland.