WOMEN:SANDRA OVEREND, the UUP's women's development officer, began with an admission that the party had one female MP and just 17 female councillors.
However, the next Assembly intake will have women UUP members, she vowed. The party was committed to creating opportunities for women of all ages, she added. It was time to deliver on those words.
Carol Black, the councillor who triumphed dramatically over the DUP last spring, said being a woman in politics had its advantages and disadvantages. It was easier to deal with women constituents. The disadvantage was the male chauvinists in other parties.
It is essential to feel passionate about the job of politics, she said. Women are seen as “honest and caring” and female candidates should build on that.
Joining Ms Overend and Cllr Black for the panel discussion was Consumer Council chief executive Eleanor Gill. She said she viewed herself not so much as a successful woman leader but as a successful leader who happens to be a woman.
She referred to what she calls the three Cs: conditions of work, conditioning and confidence.
The conditions of work was a reference to the need for flexibility, she said. She added that women needed reserves of resilience and courage to keep going despite their conditioning. “If we try to be one of the girls it’s a problem,” she said. “If we try to be one of the boys, we don’t fit there either.”
Touching on confidence, she said that women should have both the right and the opportunity to be good leaders and have their voices heard. Women also have to step up to the line. “How many of us are insecure when they see a women with talent?” she asked pointedly. “Women hold themselves back.”
Union leader Heather Moorhead said democracy was about people running their own lives, therefore it was really important to have not just men in visible roles of leadership. Under the current reorganisation of local government she warned that the total numbers of councillors will fall by more than 100. There was a need therefore for the female share of that total to increase.