Anne Taylor: Anne Taylor, who has died at 56 at her home in Clonmel, was a lifelong campaigner for equality, democracy and community, values she held dear and for which she worked on a local, national and international level.
She was the eldest daughter in a family of eight children born in 1948 to Alice and Ned Cantwell. Her father represented Ireland 26 times as a boxer and won the welterweight bronze medal at the European Championships in 1947.
Anne Taylor inherited her father's fighting spirit and was one of the leaders in the movement to change attitudes in the 1980s in Ireland. As a founding member of the Tipperary Rape Crisis Centre and Cuan Saor Women's Refuge, she grasped every opportunity to support women who had experienced violence and childhood abuse and who were beginning to find their voice in a society not ready to listen.
She represented these voices at a national level on the Council for the Status of Women (National Women's Council for Ireland) and was elected vice-chair (1991-1993) and chair (1993-1995).
As leader of the national representative body for women's organisations, Taylor was determined that Government and policymakers should not ignore issues such as poverty, social exclusion, access to employment and training and services for victims of violence and abuse. She was delighted to welcome Mary Robinson as guest of honour at the 21st anniversary celebrations of the council and to go on to contribute to her election campaign.
She was also active at a European level and was elected president of the European Women's Lobby which represented women's views to the European institutions, MEPs and commissioners, particularly on issues such as the trafficking of women and children and rights for immigrant women. She was a member of Ireland's delegation to the United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.
Taylor served on the board of the Employment Equality Authority (now the Equality Authority).
As an advocate of gender balance on State boards, she was happy to accept a nomination as a director of the board of the ESB and was reappointed for a second term in 2002, thus becoming the senior independent member of the board where she focused her attention on health and safety issues and the consumer.
Despite a heavy workload, her activism in her local community did not diminish. This involvement spanned a diverse range of needs, from assisting in the establishment of the Clonmel Community Resource Centre and working with the local branch of the Rehab Foundation to chairing the Friends of St Anthony's Unit for the Elderly.
Taylor's commitment to local democracy and determination to achieve a goal was evident in her local election campaign of June 2004. Following a diagnosis of a major illness and surgery, she confounded conventional wisdom and insisted on returning to the canvass, sometimes within 24 hours of chemotherapy.
She drew strength, determination and energy from engaging with people and, despite the circumstances, was elected on the Labour ticket to Clonmel Borough Council. Due to her illness her time as a councillor was short, but her impact was notable.
Taylor held an unwavering belief in people and their capacity to act in goodness given the opportunity. She refused to operate from prejudice. Her work on the Department of Justice committee for the design of a new women's prison helped to bring about the development of the Dochas Women's Centre at Mountjoy. She passionately believed that the provision of training and education was the route out of disadvantage.
In his graveside oration, Pat Rabbitte TD acknowledged a "women of values".
She is survived by her partner, Pat; her sons, Mark, Richard and Paul; daughters, Samantha, Rachel and Sarah; and her parents, Ned and Alice.
Anne Taylor: born September 16th, 1948; died April 25th, 2005