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Mary Robinson Being a part of the European Community enabled us to compare Irish social norms and statistics with those of other countries. I saw that particularly in the progress toward equal pay, equality of opportunity and social security for women. The women's movement in Ireland, which had begun in the '70s, was largely made up of journalists, lawyers like me and woman civil servants looking for equal pay. It intimidated quite a lot of married women in Ireland whose main focus was on their family and children. They felt, "This isn't for me; I'm just a housewife."
In the late '80s and into the '90s the women's movement began looking at the priorities of women in a more rounded way. It included women whose focus may be on their husbands and children but who may be doing volunteer work. At the same time women began taking part more actively in both the public and private sectors. When I was first elected to the Senate in 1969, there were only five women there. Now the proportion is about 13%. I had a sense that the world would be greatly improved when women were there in sufficient numbers to really influence the structures and the way of doing things.
PHOTO CREDIT: ALAN O'CONNOR-KATZ FOR TIME |
