The Women's Podcast

The Women's Podcast


Ep 439 Caoimhe Butterly: 400 Welcomes

October 12, 2020

You’ve probably heard of the 400 Welcomes campaign, an all-female campaign group, made up of doctors, teachers, writers, community and social care workers and musicians . One of the women behind the campaign is Caoimhe Butterly, a human rights campaigner who has been fighting for justice all over the world for most of her adult life. Originally from Dublin, she was inspired by her parents to look outside her own comfortable circumstances and fight for the most vulnerable. Following a recent fire in Moria refugee camp in Lesvos, Greece, over 13,000 people now face the bleakest conditions which are getting worse by the day. Those in the new camp face inadequate access to food, water and weather-proofed shelters. #400Welcomes is calling on the Irish government to bring 400 people from Lesvos to Ireland with relocation outside of the system of Direct Provision. The Government originally said they would only take in four unaccompanied minors, now it says they will take fifty men, women and children. We spoke to Butterly about her interesting family background, her motivation, her hopes for the campaign and the ways her fight for justice has changed since she became a mother.