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People Like Me - Voices like Mine: Women's Voices in Democracy
16/09/2021 11:05
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Event report available
The Europe Direct Centre's in Clones and Ballinasloe invite you to join in a discussion on democracy and the importance of women’s voices being heard in the decision-making process. This event will support the Conference on the Future of Europe. We want to hear your thoughts on what the EU does well, what it should do and what it needs to do better to make it more equal and democratic.
After a brief introduction from the panel, there will be a panel discussion, followed by a Q&A session in which the panelists will respond to your thoughts and questions. We invite you to submit your questions in advance by emailing them to eudirect@monaghancoco. Questions asked and issues raised during the Q&A session will be highlighted to the European Union (EU) as part of our reporting process, so this is the perfect opportunity to raise any concerns or make suggestions about how the EU can better support women's participation in the democratic process.
The discussion panel will include
• Maria Walsh, MEP, Uruemu Adejinmi
• Mayor of Longford
• Dr. Michelle Maher, See Her Elected
• Lorraine Cunningham, NCCWN Blayney Blades.
The Event will be moderated by Maeve McCormack.
• Maria Walsh, MEP, Uruemu Adejinmi
• Mayor of Longford
• Dr. Michelle Maher, See Her Elected
• Lorraine Cunningham, NCCWN Blayney Blades.
The Event will be moderated by Maeve McCormack.
Contributing to European Democracy ensures that you are making your voice heard. Join in the debates, take part in elections and get to know the MEP’s in your area. We all have a role to play. Let’s make our voices heard. Let’s see our voices reflected in policy.
This event will take place over zoom and will be recorded to post on our social media accounts. By registering to attend, you consent to the recording and publication of the event, and any visual, oral, or textual interactions you have during the event.
Event report
Europe Direct Event: People Like Me, Voices Like Mine: Women’s Voices in Democracy Hosted jointly by Europe Direct Clones and Europe Direct Ballinasloe 23 September 2021. 19:00 – 20:30 IST Online event: ticketed – 41 participants Promotion: This event was hosted on Zoom, and promoted on our social media channels. NB: This event was unique in that it comprised an all-female panel, an all-female backroom team, and an all-female team of ED Centre staff. Speakers & moderator Maeve McCormack, Deputy Head of News at Midlands103 radio station was the moderator for the event. Speaker 1: Maria Walsh, MEP spoke about her own growth in rural Ireland, and her move into politics. She spoke about being in a rural area and needing to see women like her in local politics. Speaker 2: Uremeu Adejinmi, Mayor of Longford Town, spoke about her mostly positive experience of campaigning as a political representative. She is a Fianna Fail backed candidate and spoke of the value of having experienced political campaigners to engage with. Speaker 3: Dr. Michelle Maher is the programme director at See Her Elected. She spoke about encouraging women to get involved with Public Participation Networks. She also highlighted how important it is for women to speak up so that we don’t just have men guessing what women want, but instead have women speaking about the reality of their lived experience. Speaker 4: Lorraine Cunningham from the National Collective of Community-based Women’s Networks, Blayney Blades. The NWCCN represent 17 national women’s groups. This is important for diversity of representation and ideas because what works in rural areas won’t work in urban areas etc. Leona Keenan, manager of Monaghan Public Participation Network (PPN) then spoke about the fact that there is a PPN in every county across the country – becoming part of this gives the opportunity for consultation, representation, information. PPNs give input into local policy and sometimes into national policy. Every County Council committee must have community representation (i.e. PPN engagement). Participation isn’t just about voting, it’s about local people coming together and having their voices heard by their county councils. Topics discussed by panel (speakers 1-4): • Presenting women whenever possible is essential. Looking at the diversity of our population, this is not reflected when we look at what we see on the news. It tends to be a particular sex, colour, and age we see. • Importance of women validating each other and supporting each other. • Challenges of women balancing a home life and a work life. Maria Walsh MEP spoke about her parents supporting her while she was on the road doing long drives which was a very interesting perspective. • Money and fundraising - when running for election, those with a smaller budget are invisible. Capping spend at a reasonable amount so that ordinary people can run for election will create a more level playing field. • Many women have great experience working in a background capacity on campaigns, frequently for male candidates, which would be immensely valuable in supporting female candidates. • A Universal Basic Wage which would recognise all the vital unpaid work that women do in the voluntary sector, in the home, as carers etc. would also help enable more women to get involved in politics directly. Similarly, there should be a universal pension. • As many politicians gain their experience in local elections, male-female quotas for local elections should be brought in to give more women the opportunity to gain experience in politics and then to process to regional and national level. • Work/Life Balance - the long hours and late hours of politics are seriously detrimental to women’s opportunities. Women frequently have to leave meetings early as they have home responsibilities. • Importance of mentoring women and having a buddy system so that women are always with someone who is championing them, preferably another female who is as positive about them as they are about themselves. • Support networks for women. The more voices we get into the political arena, whether as candidates or support teams, the more we can change the system. • The criticism female politicians receive in media and press and the fact that male politicians are not subjected to the same abuse. • Women don’t, and shouldn’t, just focus on women’s issues, we need to get involved across the board in political life. • Need to pull women up the ladder after ourselves. Don’t get competitive with other women, instead get more representation of women in our system.Related Ideas
Future of the EU
Knocking at the Glass Ceiling: Women in the EU Politics
23
September 2021
19:00 - 20:30
Number of participants
46
Reference: cofe-MEET-2021-09-45739
Version number 4 (of 4) see other versions
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