- The first Bill Mary Robinson wrote as a new senator (this was in the late 60's) sought to overturn the ban on importing, distribution and sale of contraception in Ireland (thank goodness)
- She married a protestant man, despite protests from her parents who would not even go to the wedding because they did not believe in mixed religion marraiges.
- She transformed the position of President of Ireland.
- She has dedicated her life to lobbying for human rights for people who cannot stand up for themselves, not just in Ireland but around the world.
" I was elected by the women of Ireland who, instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system" -Mary Robinson
But the thing that struck me when I was reading about this was that are there any Irish women of this generation that are a patch on the likes of Mary Robinson? If yes - who? If no - why?????With all the problems in our political systems and in our economy where are the women with the balls and the brains to get us out of this mess???? They are certainly not in the Dail anyways......
I hate to say it; but I think Catherine may be right on this one in some ways. After reading this post I spent some time thinking, searching the ‘Irish People of The Year’ website and googling young inspirational Irish women. Is it because our social values have changed? Are we taking the easy way out? Do we simply just not care anymore? Surely in tough times like these there should be young fighters emerging; women who are challenging the ‘system’. Inspirational women like Mary Robinson, Mary McAleese and Christina Noble are women I admire greatly; yet they are not of our generation.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few young Irish business women that I hold in high regard. Rebecca Davis is a personal friend of mine who opened her business in perhaps the most challenging year of our time, 2008. Rebecca owns and runs her jewellery boutique in Dublin city centre and sells online; but she also dedicates a significant amount of her time supporting and promoting valuable causes such as The Special Olympics and Breast Cancer Ireland. I think this practise is one that should be adopted by more and more Irish business women. It is extremely important to promote your business as one that is socially conscious and aware.
Perhaps this is a minor example but I think if more people promoted such values through their business then maybe Ireland would be a more favourable place to live and work in. Of course at the end of the day the goal of any business is to make profit; but if you can promote social values and make money along the way then you are killing two birds with one stone.
I think Irish people just like to play it safe, get a nice handy job, give out about everything and anything to their friends but do absolutely nothing about it themselves, I think it is a pity, but I do not see a change happening anytime soon.. I don't know if it is laziness or just lack of confidence but for all the change we talk about wanting to see I don't understand why there are not more people showing some initiative and actually doing something about it, both men and women.
ReplyDeleteMary Robinson was one of a kind, and I think part of a dying breed of Irish women.. but I really hope I am proved wrong.
I think thats a really good point Ash, women have been rubbished in Irish Politics since Ladies Land League. I think at the next election we are going to see a massive turnover in TDs because most of them are sick to death of the abuse they're getting. I believe that the next election will see a huge sea change in the number of women TDs.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Catherine on this one too, and as an Irish woman it embarrasses me. On a similar note, I recently read an article on the Harvard Business Review Blog (see below) that suggested that the Investment Banking industry is one that is most "stubbornly persistent" when it comes to including women in managerial decisions. With this industry being the epicenter of the recent financial crisis that shook the world, would it be absurd to assume that there is a link? To quote "more women = less self-interested greed = less imprudent risk = more solid asset values = healthier balance sheets". Now wouldn't that the world a nicer place!
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.hbr.org/kanter/2010/10/what-if-lehman-brothers-had-be.html?cm_sp=blog_flyout-_-kanter-_-what_if_lehman_brothers_had_be