Marriage bar: The lifting of the marriage bar caused protests from people concerned that married women would take the jobs of single girls, according to files released by the National Archives.
In 1973, the Co Longford Committee of Agriculture sent a resolution of protest to the minister for agriculture against the removal of the marriage bar.
Mr M Doherty, who proposed the motion, said that if a girl married: "Her husband should keep her and not have her taking up a job on a single girl."
In September, 1973, a Ms M Carroll from Waterford wrote to the Taoiseach, Mr Liam Cosgrave warning that his term of office was going to be very short "if married women can stay on in their jobs and so many young girls with good honours in their Leaving Cert cannot get a job".
She said married nurses were not giving young women the chance to train as nurses.The letter writer added: "Nearly all the nurses in the hospital here in Dungarvan are married to men with good jobs, chemists and farmers. The money those wives are earning is being spent on hotel life, dining and wining."
The letter warned Mr Cosgrave he would be "out" next time if he did not "nip this in the bud". It was signed "from a mother trying to get jobs for her children".
Meanwhile, Dr Noel Browne raised the ire of some people when he made a speech in 1972 claiming that almost no other Catholic country was as corrupted by wealth and power as the State was corrupted by the Catholic Church.
A Ms Mary Murray from Cheshire wrote to Mr Cosgrave to express her outrage at the speech. "He must be stark, raving mad to make such untruthful and malicious statements, especially at this time," she wrote. "I would advise him to see a psychiatrist without delay." [Dr Browne, a former minister for health, was a psychiatrist by profession.]
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