WOMEN INTO PUBLIC LIFE – autumn gets off to a busy start

Foyle Women’s Information Network is one of three women’s organisations involved in a recently established cross border partnership between Second Chance Education Project for Women in Donegal and Engender in Scotland with Donegal County Council playing the role of  lead public partner.  The Project has been awarded €898,945 under the EU’s INTERREG IVA Programme and is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) www.seupb.eu for a programme of activities to be delivered over a three year period up until 2012.  The project aims to address the continuing under representation of women in decision making fora. Project activities include the organisation of leadership training programmes and seminars, exchange of best practice between partners and the establishment of a cross border women into public life forum.  

Training courses starting in October

 Two courses on women’s leadership are due to start at the beginning of October and these will be held in Inishowen and Derry/Londonderry.  Run over a 3 month period, participants from both groups will come together for some joint sessions as well as participate in some field trips. TWN (Training Women’s Network), an organisation based in Belfast, will deliver the training. These courses are the first of many which will be organised over the 3 year lifespan of the project and it presents a wonderful opportunity for women to develop skills and confidence in their leadership abilities.

One of the many reasons women are reluctant to go into politics is because they don’t feel connected to the political system. Visits to parliaments can help demystify politics and on the 14^th September, WIPL organised a group of women from Inishowen and Derry/Londonderry to visit Stormont.  The group toured the building, learned of its history and afterwards had a meeting with Mary Bradley (SDLP) who hosted the event.  Mary arranged for other politicians to come to the meeting and after getting an idea of their work and the various committees they are involved in, the group had a chance to ask questions.  The discussion focused on the impact of the cuts on the voluntary sector, health and education and the reasons why women don’t’ get involved in politics. Despite it being a very male dominated world (of 108 MLAs, only ....are women) Mary encouraged women to ‘have a go’ and emphasised that one of the main things you need is ‘common sense’!  Reviewing the visit afterwards, one participant commented ‘it put a story to the politics picture .. I only ever saw Stormont on TV, it was great to see how it works’.

PHOTO:  (Mary Bradley, SDLP with WIPL group)

While women from North and South visit Stormont, women from the Western Isles of Scotland will be planning similar trips to the Scottish Assembly. However, they have a much longer journey to get to the centre of power in Edinburgh!  Engender, the Scottish partner in the WIPL project, will also be organising women’s leadership courses in the Western Isles.  In August, Project Co-ordinator, Noirin Clancy and Outreach Worker, Maureen Fox, visited the Engender office in Edinburgh and with their Director, Niki Kandirikirira, caught the ferry to Dunoon to meet Lorna Ahlquist.  Lorna is organising training programmes in this very beautiful and remote area. A key challenge, however, is transport and managing the distances women have to travel in order to participate in training and seminars.

PHOTO (Noirin Clancy and Maureen Fox with Engender staff)

 Funding the biggest concern for women’s centres.

Another event organised by WIPL was a networking seminar between the Kilcooley Women’s Centre and women’s groups from  FWIN (Foyle Women’s Information Network). Women from Derry/Londonderry travelled to Co Down to visit the Women’s Centre where they shared learning, exchanged stories and discussed issues concerning the women’s sector. The full group then attended a workshop in Bangor where they enjoyed a neutral venue for a question and answer session on each centre. The group found they had a lot of issues in common, the most popular one being funding and general support to enable more women to attend their centres. Common issues like caring and travel continue to be the biggest barriers for most women. However, by far, the biggest concern expressed was funding.  It was agreed that funding restrictions are currently making it more and more difficult for the centres to operate as the cut backs continue. Not only was funding itself a major concern, but all the administration that surrounds it has also become an issue. All the centres agreed they had to rely on volunteers more than ever because of this and, as a result, the value of women’s work and such centres is undermined. The event supported the centres to see that they are not isolated in their frustrations or in their efforts; indeed all agreed it was a worthwhile opportunity to meet women from other areas of Northern Ireland.

PHOTO (Kilcooley Women’s Centre)

The next seminar being organised by WIPL will take place on Friday morning, 1^st October in Derry/Londonderry. This seminar will focus on learning about the different policy and political contexts, North and South, regarding women into public life. Speakers include  Ms. Eileen Sung, Head of Gender & Sexual Orientation Equality at OFMDFM (Office of the First Minister & Deputy First Minister), Ms. Pauline Moreau, Director of the Gender Equality Division, Department of Community, Equality & Gaeltacht Affairs and Professor Yvonne Galligan, Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Women into Politics, Queen's University Belfast.  This event promises to be very informative and will give WIPL and women in the region an opportunity to explore what strategies we need to put in place to ensure more women are supported to take up leadership positions in public life.  For further information on this seminar or any of other activities being organised by WIPL, phone 074-91 72901 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it