This may be the age of post-feminism but you don't need mathematical brilliance to figure that gender issues still count. Last year, President Robinson made International Women's Day a day to remember when her meeting with Pope John Paul II began a controversy about the behaviour of women leaders which sent The Irish Times letters page into overdrive.
Celebrations so far are more low-key this year with Dublin's City Arts Centre among the few agencies to programme specially themed events. Dermot Morgan's legacy in making comedy gigs a part of the culture brings a bittersweet twist to tonight's stand-up performances by Deirdre O'Kane and Michelle Read, starting at 9 p.m. Mad music by Yemanja and world rhythms from DJ Clare Maloney will keep you rocking into the small hours.
If you fancy your own stand-up talents, Read offers a comedy improvisation workshop earlier today. Or you can surf through world music workshops in voice and percussion, led by Yemanja's Eileen Stephens. Both run from 12.30 until 2.30 p.m. Sunday welcomes writers and poets to the cafe at City Arts Centre. Anne Enright and Medbh McGuckian are joined by Kathy Hayes and Deirdre Carr for three hours of readings and music, starting at 8 p.m. Carr's exhibition, The Rape Of Alizarin Crimson, which goes hand-in-hand with her poetry, is on view all week. Stitching in to the many community programmes, which City Arts Centre runs for Dublin women, there's a rare photographic exhibition, featuring images of young women from Belfast's Shankill community. US writer/performer Elizabeth Pugh also reprises her 1997 Theatre Festival show I'm Not Quite Finished . . . Yet!, reportedly a tale of one woman's journey to hell and back, 8 p.m. Tueday - Saturday.
In Derry today, the Women's Network Centre 32 Great James's Street presents two dramas at the Foyle Arts Centre by Cathy Rafferty, disability awareness officer at Coleraine University. The Hidden Temperament and Untitled As Yet grow from her personal experience as a sufferer of ataxic cerebral palsy. Both are produced by Kick Off Theatre Company. (Telephone Derry 267672 for details)
In Derry, the Women's Network presents a double bill on Friday and Saturday next at Foyle Arts Centre. Written by Cathy Rafferty, disability awareness officer at Coleraine University, The Hidden Temperament and Untitled As Yet grow from her personal experience as a sufferer of ataxic cerebral palsy. Both are produced by Kick Off Theatre Company. At Pilot's Row, the Dare To Dream programme features music from El Salvador and Ireland on Friday evening and runs a women's art show there until March 23rd. (Telephone Derry 267672 for details).
And if you've the slightest doubt about the exclusion of women in Northern Ireland, after hearing Monica McWilliams of the Women's Coalition talk to Gay Byrne on The Late Late Show, take a look at Troubled Thoughts, Caroline Molloy's installation at Belfast's Old Museum Arts Centre, until March 26th. The show confronts the tangled question of female identity there, with Molloy - a photographer with Elle, Time Out and You magazines - using her time as Flaxart artist-in-residence to make portraits of 24 women across communities.