Edel Coffey: The marriage bar clipped the wings of countless women

"I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for these young women, full of hopes, ambition, and vitality to shelve their dreams of careers, creative expression, and adventure and turn their focus instead to the domestic."

Edel Coffey: Marriage bar was jaw-droppingly discriminatory

Last week, I was on a beach in Spain, pretending to disconnect from work, news, the world, but secretly catching up on the day’s news programmes by night. While my family slept, I stealthily sucked up all of the news and opinions to be had, refilling my FOMO cup to the brim. 

I don’t like to switch off. I honestly love my work and consider myself lucky to have it. So I was stopped in my tracks as I worked my way through RTÉ Radio One’s schedule in the wee hours, by the voices of some women who had called the Joe Duffy show to talk about their experience of the marriage bar.