As the resurgence of feminism is overshadowed by the depths of the financial crisis and global recession, Angela Nagle draws attention to the attempts to roll back the advances and improvements made by women over generations and sounds the alarm on the forced return of women to the home.

While the recession has been disastrous for hundreds of thousands of Irish people it has also represented a major opportunity for unscrupulous employers. A new generation of talented young Irish graduates are increasingly expected to work long hours for nothing as 'interns'. The depressingly predictable response of our national broadcaster has been to cast this grinding exploitation as the very last word in glamour. Angela Nagle takes up the story.