The digital archive of the Together for Yes campaign will be preserved in DRI following the organisation's joining as DRI Members
The digital archive of the Together for Yes campaign will be preserved in the Digital Repository of Ireland following the organisation joining as Members. The campaign, which was active during the months leading up to the referendum on the Eighth Amendment in May 2018, was the main civil society organisation advocating for a Yes vote. During its existence, Together For Yes generated a huge amount of digital content, including campaign branding, an official website, press releases, merchandise design and more. As part of its post-referendum work, Together for Yes organised a preservation and archiving initiative, of which membership of a trusted digital repository plays a key part. An archivist will work on ingesting the campaign's public digital record as well as some business records and other materials.
Commenting on the membership, the co-directors of Together for Yes, Grainne Griffin, Orla O’Connor and Ailbhe Smyth, said:
“Too often women’s activism is hidden within history. Membership of the DRI will allow the historic work to repeal the eighth amendment from the Irish Constitution through the women-led Together for Yes campaign to be preserved and made accessible to activists and scholars. It will ensure that the lessons learned from our collective struggle will be preserved for future generations.”
Director of DRI, Dr Natalie Harrower said:
"Ireland's 2018 referendum on the Eighth Amendment was contentious and hard fought, mobilising large communities of volunteers to campaign for the opposing perspectives. The referendum was a momentous occasion in contemporary Irish history, and the materials produced during the campaign period are invaluable to future historians, sociologists, and scholars of politics and culture, as well as the worldwide public. I am delighted that Together for Yes – the main campaign supporting the repeal of the Eighth Amendment from the Irish constitution – applied to join the Digital Repository of Ireland in order to archive campaign materials for long term preservation and wide access. The DRI looks forwarded to adding these collections to the repository, where they will sit alongside a plethora of other materials that enable users to browse and discover Ireland's social and cultural history. The Digital Repository of Ireland is committed to assisting Irish organisations and institutions to safeguard their digital data and welcomes a diversity of depositors."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
