Welcome to the @informedconsentireland Buy Me a Coffee Page!
I have been working on the Informed Consent Ireland instagram page since April 2019, long before the world was turned upside down by c0vid. I started it in response to the suggestions by the then Minister for Health Simon Harris to introduce mandatory v@cc1nes for creches and pre-schools. In my personal life and on my personal social media pages, I was surrounded by people who were entirely unaffected and uninterested in this issue. I needed to express my personal feelings on the matter, I needed to reach other people who shared my concerns about this issue and I needed to connect to a wider community of like minded people. So @informedconsentireland was born.
Although I focused on the Irish issues and the Irish political figures driving the issue, much of my initial following was based in the USA. The Freedom Keepers in America was an established community of advocates in each state in America who campaigned for medical freedom. I was inspired by their advocacy, their rallies, their community, and I felt like this was something we needed here in Ireland.
It was only when c0vid arrived on the scene that my page really gathered an Irish based following. Irish people who followed the Freedom Keepers somehow discovered my page and shared it, and it began to grow. Day by day, week by week, my following grew as the c0vid crisis deepened. Irish people were slowly becoming aware of the creeping threat to their freedoms, and were seeking out people, pages and posts that reflected their concerns.
Through the lockdowns, people were craving a community that shared their sense that what was happening was wrong, that togetherness was needed more than isolation. I tried to use my platform to connect people not just digitally, but in real life too. I organised meet-ups, coffee mornings, playground gatherings for kids. I tried to use my platform to connect small businesses who were affected by the lockdowns with a wider audience of people who wanted to spend their money with freedom focused businesses. Together with @trustyourgutireland2.0 we created the Enough is Enough Campaign. We organised successful peaceful protest marches and rallies in opposition to the emergency powers and c0vid passes. We organised a Picnic in the Park in the Summer with musicians, speakers, face painting and childrens entertainers, a gathering in opposition to c0vid passes but more importantly to bring people together, to create connections and community offline. This led to the Elevate Festival where we brought people together in defiance of the lockdown and crowd restrictions, to a festival of freedom. We had a musical lineup, a market, children's entertainment, food and coffee trucks, yoga and dance classes, journalling and cacao workshops, sound baths and so much more.
When the v@cc1ne passports were introduced, we had entered a new era of state sponsored discrimination in Ireland. People were shut out of cafes, bars, restaurants, gyms, cinemas, theatres and many other parts of society. Rather than beating us into submission, I feel that this made our community even more determined to stand our ground. Our decisions were informed, thoroughly researched and firm. We were unwavering in our determination. My page grew to over 20,000 followers throughout this time, a clear reflection of the shifting mindset of Irish people. People are awakening to the corruption, the coercion, the control. People are no longer willing to accept things as they stand. People want change to happen.
I am proud that my page played a role in this cultural shift. But most of all I am grateful that I was there for people when they felt they had no one else to turn to. The most common message I get from people is to say that they thought they were alone, they were in despair and isolation and thought they were crazy because they thought no one shared their concerns, until they found my page. I am proud to say that I have created a safe space where people can connect with like minded freedom focused people, share their fears, their worries, their news. A place where people can ask questions, seek experience and advice from others who have walked their path before. A place where people can find some sanity in an insane world.
I set up this in response to the requests from followers to donate towards the work I have done and continue to do. I am so grateful to each and every one of you for your continuing support, and I look forward to shifting more into real world connections and meeting you all at future events.
With the ever increasing censorship of social media, my instagram page may not last. With your support, I can look in to other platforms and ways to continue bringing people together in the spirit of freedom. With your support I will continue to advocate, to create and to shine a light on the truth.