Vectors of transnationality in the adoption of a liberal public health response to HIV and AIDS in Ireland

Abstract

Historical transnationalism offers a lens through which vectors of international ideas influence national social and political dimensions to illuminate the policy transfer pathways that may shape contemporary events. This article applies a historical transnational perspective to examine the ascendency of the liberal consensus in Ireland which largely defined the international response to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. While AIDS was neither the initial nor the sole driver of policy change, it was a catalyst for the transformation of Ireland's traditionally Catholic and conservative approach to sexuality and sexual health. In considering the role of a pioneering priest, a public health specialist and a gay collective during this initial era of HIV and AIDS in Ireland, conclusions will be drawn as to the extent to which these key actors operated as vectors of transnationality to promote a global ethic of non-discrimination and the conditions required by government to adopt a liberal response to HIV and AIDS.

Transformative Illegality: How Condoms ‘Became Legal’ in Ireland, 1991–1993

“…Sex between men was criminalised until June of 1993, so that liberalising condom access for this demographic was framed as encouraging criminal activity. 18 Ambivalence around condom use was still reflected in a 1987 public education campaign on AIDS (Smyth 1998) which emphasised abstinence and fidelity rather than condom use (Smyth 1998;Nolan and Larkin 2016;Kerrigan 2017, 6). Like conservative Catholic groups, 19 the Minister for Health stressed that condoms, if used, were not "100% effective".…”