The Soviets, under Vladimir Lenin, formally hit upon March 8 — a day which coincidentally coincided with the arrest of the suffragist Sylvia Pankhurst in front of Charing Cross station on her way to speak about women’s voting rights.

Through the decades there have been innumerable examples around the world of people who might be characterised as “thought leaders”, to use a current phrase. Campaigning topics have included employment rights and pay, health, legal status, civil rights, politics, violence, and equality.

This year’s theme is “Accelerate Action”, which seeks to speed up progress to gender parity and break down systemic barriers and biases.

After a century of advocacy, it may seem difficult to comprehend that progress still needs to be made. Surely these arguments were won long ago? To the liberal mind and heart, the rationale and efficiency, not to say harmony, of equality is self-evident.

Yet it is hard to escape the feeling that all is not well, most visibly represented this week by (predominantly male) posturing over war and rearmament and the incipient testosterone-fuelled atmosphere of the Oval Office.

As an example of the manosphere in action it was, to put it mildly, disquieting.

Ipsos, the multi-national market research company, also thinks there is an issue — finding mounting evidence of bafflement and resentment by men of various ages who feel they have been left behind, and diminished, by what others describe as progress.

Its survey of 23,765 online adults aged 18-74, including Ireland, took place between December and January. In the Republic, 39% of respondents — the same as France — strongly or somewhat agreed with the proposition that “when it comes to giving women equal rights with men, things have gone far enough in my country.”

Meanwhile, 40% thought too much was being asked of men to support equality — while 42% felt they were being actively discriminated against.

Across Europe, the greatest levels of fatigue on the subject can be found in the younger age groups.

That there is a potentially dangerous confusion about male roles is further underpinned by a report — The Lost Boys — from the Centre for Social Justice.

This states: “Whilst the last hundred years have been marked by great leaps forward in outcomes and rights for women, in this generation it is boys who are being left behind. And by some margin.”

In Britain, it warns that since the pandemic, the number of young men aged 16-24 not in education, employment, or training has increased by a staggering 40%. The comparable figure for women is 7%.

That this is a breeding ground for extremism or misogyny is self-evident, and those traits can be found, almost weekly, in reports from courts here and in other jurisdictions.

The popularity of grifters and influencers such as Andrew Tate are a symptom of disillusion, sometimes with fatal consequences — prosecutors in England claimed Tate’s “violent misogyny” motivated and fuelled the actions of triple murderer and rapist Kyle Clifford, who had been searching for Tate’s podcast just 24 hours before his crimes. Extremists prey on the disillusioned and resentful.

Much has improved. Women’s rights have changed for the better and there is a marked upgrade in opportunity. However, as teachers used to say in end-of-year reports: “Can do better.” Complacency is the enemy of progress.

Slivers of information painfully slow to emerge

As the Irish Examiner’s politics newsletter observed this week, it is five years since we reported on the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Ireland.

On that occasion, a school in Glasnevin with several hundred pupils was closed for 14 days while all students and staff were monitored. The alert followed the return to Ireland of a man who had visited one of four areas in northern Italy which were deemed “high risk”.

And so began the greatest health crisis in the memory of anyone in the Republic of Ireland, lasting some two years, causing thousands of deaths, and much illness and unhappiness. Great financial consequence, and changes to our society which remain evident today.

On that first day, we wrote in this column about how information was being shared in different ways within the 55 countries then fighting the virus.

We said that: “Official Ireland has had a deep commitment to discretion bordering on secrecy. This culture may have its time and place, but at a moment when discipline and an active commitment to the common good is essential it would be counter-productive. 

"This seems a moment for openness, so confidence might be sustained and the prospect of panic minimised.” 

That was a sound argument then, but looks hollow now when we analyse the meagre slivers of information which have been placed before the public arising from the long-awaited and frequently promised “evaluation” of this country’s preparedness and response to this great national emergency.

While it is tempting to place such concerns into the tray marked “lightning doesn’t strike twice”, such a relaxed approach should be tempered by news emerging from both the US and China.

In a study published in the scientific journal Cell, a group of researchers reported the discovery of a coronavirus in bats — HKU5-CoV-2 — that has the potential to spread to humans.

It is a striking, if unwelcome, reminder that viral threats have not disappeared. It’s not just bats: One only has to look at the spread of virulent bird flu in the US for a reminder that illnesses wholly familiar to us could mutate into something far worse.

At an international level, we should worry that there is no framework by which work on viruses is collectively monitored through agreed global standards and mechanisms. 

We still do not know how covid passed into the world, although we are all familiar with theories about lab leaks, wet markets, and pangolins.

But nationally, while our performance during lockdown had many points to commend it, our collective lack of curiosity about what happened, and our lack of national will to find out, is embarrassing for a mature state which needs to plan for the future.

Prof Anne Scott has been appointed to chair Ireland’s process — it’s wrong to call it an inquiry — and she is partnered by Prof David Heymann from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The rest of the “multi-disciplinary panel” are yet to be named.

We’re told that a report will be delivered “within 12-18 months.” The organisation’s website has one news item on it. Only very broad terms of reference have been.

Part of the government’s justification for this glacial approach is that it is anxious to “avoid a witch hunt” like in the UK. But while this generates a headline to appease the home supporters, things are being kept as tame as possible. It has no powers to secure documents or compel witnesses. And apparently no meaningful timetable.

By way of comparison the official UK digital record contains thousands of witness accounts and personal statements across 10 modules translated into 11 languages. People are invited to share their experiences. Initial conclusions have already been reached including the need for a total overhaul of civil emergency procedures.

Given the speed of progress so far you wouldn’t bet against our report and recommendations failing to appear before the end of this decade. That would not only be shameful, but dangerous.