Gaisce Awardees visit Houses of Oireachtas for International Women\’s Day | #GaisceStories
Gaisce – The President’s Award was invited to attend the Houses of Oireachtas for their ‘Gender Equality in Politics’ event, which was organised by Women For Election for International Women’s Day 2023. Women from diverse, disability and minority groups were welcomed into the Dáil chamber to engage with the Women’s Caucus on ‘Gender Equality in Politics’. We learnt that only 23% of TD’s are women and it is hoped that the future of Irish politics is a Dáil that truly represents the population in the years to come.
Caoimhe Newell & Áine Fealy are Gaisce Gold Awardees and were invited to be Gaisce representatives. Here are their experience of the day!
Caoimhe Newell, Gaisce Gold Awardee
Attending the House of the Oireachtas for International Women’s Day with Gaisce was an informative and eye-opening experience. Listening to the speakers from different organisations such as TENI (Transgender Equality Network Ireland), the Irish Traveller Movement, AkiDwA (National Network of Migrant Women), EPIC (Empowering People in Care) and ISSU (Irish Second-Level Students’ Union) gave an insight into the wealth of female voices that are not yet represented in Irish politics, and a taste for how the Dáil Chambers could look in a more equitable future. I felt honoured to represent Gáisce, an organisation which hopes to empower young people to realise their potential in whatever they do. There was certainly an air of female empowerment in the Dáil Chambers that day.
Áine Fealy, Gaisce Gold Awardee
Here is what Áine had to say about her experience:
“When I got the invitation from Gaisce to represent them at Dáil Éireann for International Women’s Day, I just knew it was an opportunity that I couldn’t turn down. There are so many women in my life, both professionally and personally, that are extremely inspirational and extremely powerful, and for that reason International Women’s Day has always been a day that felt very close to my heart.
I really didn’t know what to expect on that day. I didn’t really know what I was going into exactly, but it was an incredibly amazing experience just sitting beside all these women coming from all these different walks of life. It was incredibly educational listening to the different speeches and listening to the different challenges they’ve had to overcome to get to where they are today. It was especially educational listening to the different female leaders, and whenever they were discussing the different challenges, the daily challenges that they had to overcome, working in an area where females weren’t represented, it was extremely educational listening to them and recognising how far we’ve come.
Overall, it was just an extremely educational, empowering and amazing day. I’m honestly so grateful and so proud to have been part of such a historical event.”
Video by Áine