Madam, – On page 7 of your excellent Sisters supplement (May 26th) there is a photograph of Mary Robinson, Ireland’s first female president. Underneath the photograph is written that she has been seen as “a courageous campaigner and a brilliant lawyer, but as lacking the popular touch”. Certainly the choice of a woman was not a popular one with her male colleagues. She is surrounded by 12 unsmiling, rather grumpy looking men. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – I would like to express my acute annoyance at A Leavy’s comments (May 28th) with regard to Ireland’s “subjugated” “brothers”.
It appears to me that most of Ireland’s 1.3 million Irish males can have their marital relationships well summed up in the following witticism: Q. When does a woman enjoy her husband’s company? A. When he owns it. – Is mise,
Madam, – First, I'd like to congratulate The Irish Timeson its enlightening and lively Sisters supplement (May 26th). As a young Irish feminist, I welcome the gradual recognition by the media that women will not be satisfied with a couple of pages of fashion and diet tips.
However, I was astounded to find one name absent from the survey of feminist pioneers in Ireland: that of Ailbhe Smyth, someone who has been at the forefront of the women’s movement here for the best part of three decades. Full disclosure: she is my mother and I am personally immensely proud of her achievements. As a child, I looked on as she fired up the crowds at abortion rights marches and remember wondering why she talked so much about radishes (radical politics).
Ailbhe is exceptional in being both an internationally renowned academic in the field of women’s studies and a political campaigner fearlessly challenging discrimination at a grassroots level. The most high-profile difference she has made to women’s lives in Ireland is surely the founding of WERRC, the Women’s Education Research and Resource Centre, in UCD in 1990. In addition to making women’s studies available to hundreds of students within the university, the centre also brought learning to women in communities where higher education is rarely an option. Since taking early retirement from UCD, she continues to be involved in community education for women around Dublin.
Being an agent of change within a large, conservative institution is often a thankless task; Ailbhe ultimately took on UCD itself when her union brought an equality case against the university on her behalf (though the union lost the case).
While women are still drastically under-represented on the faculty, Ailbhe’s courage and honesty have undoubtedly forced the university to examine its practices and at least recognise that equality is an issue which it can no longer ignore.
Given all her achievements, I can't help wondering why Ailbhe was overlooked by The Irish Times. . . too many radishes, perhaps? Ailbhe Smyth is a name young Irish women ought to know (if they don't already). We have a lot to thank her for – no one more so than me. – Yours, etc,