International Women's Day events taking place

International Women's Day is being marked throughout Ireland today by events with themes including peace, poverty and women in…

International Women's Day is being marked throughout Ireland today by events with themes including peace, poverty and women in politics.

Many celebrations are being held at local level, with community groups and associations holding family days or discussions. Other larger organisations have arranged conferences.

In Dublin, an International Women's Day initiative by an ad-hoc group of individual women against any war in Iraq has taken place outside Dáil Éireann.

Also in Dublin, the Irish Farmers' Association has launched its equality action plan, "Putting Women in the Farming Picture", aimed at increasing women's participation in the IFA.

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Speaking at the conference the IFA's equality officer, Ms Mary Carroll said women made up just 5 per cent of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) despite the fact that they account for 35 per cent of the workforce in the agricultural sector.

She said the Association wanted to see more women involved at decision-making levels.

In Cork an all-day conference in UCC on the theme, "Refugee Women and the Law: Gender, Interculturalism and Asylum in Ireland" is taking place.

In Derry, an SDLP delegation from the parliamentary group of the Party of European Socialists is holding an all-day conference in the City Hotel, on "Women in Poverty: Barriers, Opportunities and the role of the EU".