National Women’s Council of Ireland, Annual General Meeting, June 19, 2009

Published: Thursday, June 18, 2009

'Let's not let a mere recession and the men who are running this country get in our way in the fight for women's equality', the Chairwoman of the NWCI, Maura Butler, said today. She was speaking at the AGM of the NWCI which represents over 400,000 women in Ireland.

Delegates voted to allocate seats on the NWCI Board to women representing marginalised and socially excluded communities, including Travellers and other minority ethnic communities, women with disabilities and lesbians.

In response to the recent dismal results of the 2009 local elections which saw just 16% of seats going to women, the NWCI delegates voted to strengthen its campaign for 50:50 representation of women in political life.

Guest Speaker Kathleen McMahon, Governor of Dochas Women's Centre told delegates that 18 young women released from the prison last year had since died. She said homelessness for women released from prison is an 'absolutely dreadful problem', and that many women had been physically, verbally or emotionally abused in their lives. Many had drug or alcohol problems. They needed support but instead got sent to B&Bs and spent days wandering the streets. Most women prisoners were not dangerous and not violent. She welcomed Caroline McCann's successful constitutional challenge against her jail sentence for defaulting on a credit union loan.

Cystic Fibrosis campaigner Orla Tinsley, described her experiences of the Irish healthcare system; 'you can't just sit there and watch people die who don't need to die and not say anything about it. I noticed that a lot of people seemed to just sit there accepting the way things were - I said I refuse', she said.

'In these times of cutbacks and hardships for women and women's organisations, solidarity is essential', said the NWCI's new Director Susan McKay, ' We intend to fight strenously for the rights of our members. Women's equality is not a luxury'.