A chara, – It is indeed good to celebrate and look at the progress women have made over the past 40 years in Irish life (Sisters supplement, May 26th), but let’s not be fooled that all has been achieved and that we are equal citizens.
Women make up half the population of the country, but they are not equally represented in public life. One only has to listen to RTÉ panel discussions, where there is seldom more than one token woman present. The level of women in executive positions in industry and across the civil service, while it has improved, is still abysmal. If we turn our attention to women’s participation in politics, our representation stands at just 13 per cent, one of the lowest rates in Europe. There is also no guarantee that this figure will not decrease over time. How can we say women have made real progress when the most important decision-making body – the House of the Oireachtas has such a gender imbalance?
While it is good to acknowledge advancement, let us not sit back and think there’s nothing left to accomplish – we have a long road to travel yet before we can speak of true equality. – Is mise,
ÓRLA FAGAN,
Upper Dargle Road,
Bray, Co Wicklow.
Madam, – In your Sisters supplement (May 26th) Fintan O’Toole mentions serving on a jury as one of the 10 things a woman could not do in 1970.
Although he qualifies the statement slightly, it is a bit misleading, as one woman at least served on a number of juries during the 1950s and 1960s. She was the late Beatrice Dixon (my mother), who was among the early campaigners for a change to the law, which at the time only allowed women on juries if they were property-owners who applied to be included on the jurors list.
She felt that it was the right of the defendant to be tried by a balanced jury and wrote many letters and articles on the subject – some of which were published in The Irish Times. One of the points she made was that it would be fairer to men if women were automatically eligible to be called, as with a larger pool to select from, the men would have to serve less often! – Yours, etc,
MARGERY GODINHO,
Mooncoin, Co Kilkenny.
A chara, – Congratulations on your supplement, Sisters: 40 Years of Change in the Lives of Irish Women. In many areas, progress has been made to improve the quality and experience of women’s lives and to develop society and the economy.
However, one key area was referred to only very briefly: the unpaid contribution of women to the economy and the lack of recognition and support for this work. Kat Banyard’s piece mentions that women do two-thirds of the world’s work yet receive 10 per cent of the world’s income, but makes no further comment about what should be done about this, with many references made to the continuing difficulties of balancing all the different work women do. Cúram argues that we will not progress by doing more of the same.
It is time to establish a method for family caregivers to be paid for the work that they do, to pay tax on their earnings, and to make contributions to social welfare. If a family member works for a family-owned business, it is possible to pay them for that work. If, however, a parent takes a child out of a creche, not only does the parent lose the income they would otherwise have earned, and their rights and protections within the social welfare system, they lose the recognition that what they are doing is work. If their spouse is in employment, the spouse will also pay more tax, up to €7,576 per annum on one income.
It is far more likely that more men would take up caregiving and unpaid work if they didn’t have to get into a financial hole to do it. More importantly, the unfinished business of the women’s movement – recognition and support for unpaid work – needs to be addressed as a priority. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Regarding your Sisters supplement, while it is commendable to have our founding mothers’ achievements recorded and documented by the national press, “10 Things that changed Women’s Lives” is a bad attempt at sourcing Irish women’s achievements in the last 40 years. Using a Vatican newspaper as a feminist source is a lazy attempt at crediting Irish women for their achievements in the women’s liberation movement, considering the “Church-State marriage” sought to confine even further women’s roles in Irish society! – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Congratulations on your Sisters supplement. I would like to add to the list Hilda Tweedy, who, with Andrée Sheehy Skeffington started the Irish Housewives’ Association, and worked tirelessly for the women’s movement throughout her long life.
Today’s women should not forget that the women at the beginning faced a much bigger challenge than those who followed in their footsteps. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Thank you for the informative Sisters magazine celebrating 40 years of change for Irish women (May 26th) which nearly had all kinds of everything, apart from a mention of Dana Rosemary Scallon who achieved fame when she won the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest: a double first for Ireland. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I enjoyed the Sisters supplement (May 26th), on the changing lives of women over the past 40 years. I look forward to next week’s Brothers supplement on the increasing subjugation of the Irish male. – Yours, etc,