The Irish winner of the 1997 Women of Europe award is Ms Mary Horkan, president of both the University of Women of Europe (UWE) and the Irish Federation of University Women.
Ms Horkan was cited for her work with the UWE, a body which represents 18,000 women and works for the development of education; improvement of the status of women and girls; protection of human rights; and the promotion of peace.
She was chosen from a shortlist which included the former director of the National Library of Ireland, Dr Patricia Donlon, and the chairwoman of Positive Action, Ms Jane O'Brien. The award was presented in Dublin Castle yesterday by the Minister of State for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Tom Kitt.
In a written message, the President, Mrs McAleese, congratulated Ms Horkan. She said it was a well-deserved tribute to her "tremendous work" in education and on issues affecting the elderly.
Ms Horkan, who now goes forward to represent Ireland at the meeting of international laureates in Paris next month, has been involved in European initiatives in the social policy department in University College Dublin.
In 1993 she was co-author of a Council of Europe-sponsored report on violence against the elderly. She has since continued to promote awareness of the problem, presenting papers to conferences in Amsterdam, Yokohama, Beijing and most recently in Dublin, at this year's World Congress on Violence in Human Co-existence.
She was elected president of the UWE in 1994 and, in recognition of her work with the organisation, was invited last year to give the keynote address at a Council of Europe seminar on the promotion of gender equality in central and eastern Europe. Earlier this year she was re-elected president for a second three-year term.
