By Amy Martin, author, activist and human rights lawyer
Today is international women’s day (IWD), when the world celebrates female achievement.
But despite great strides and success, women still remain under-represented in a number of areas of Irish life.
This can make it more difficult for young women and girls to identify strong female role models across society. Such role models influence our actions, help us identify our strengths and discover our true potential.
Ireland is full of inspiring, brilliant women, some of whom I featured in my book, See It, Be It: Twenty Irish Women, Twenty Inspiring Stories.
Here’s what they have learned in life, as we mark IWD.
Senator Lynn Ruane
Lynn, 38, was elected to the Seanad while serving as president of the Trinity College Students’ Union. She at Trinity as a mature student via the Trinity Access Programme.
Lynn grew up in Dublin’s Tallaght and became a single mother and left school at the age of 15. She returned to education via An Cosán, an organisation offering adult education to women from disadvantaged backgrounds. Lynn studied addiction and developed addiction programmes in her local area. Her memoir People Like Me was a bestseller.
Says Lynn: " had some traumatic childhood experiences. Instead of letting those experiences consume and define me, I've channelled them and used them to fuel my sense of justice and the fight for trauma not to be a normalised part of working-class lives ."
"I remind myself daily that I am greater than the sum of all my parts and I can meet every challenge knowing that I have my own back."
"In my opinion, role models don’t have to be super successful. My role models are the women that keep going every day, crying when the tears come, and laughing with the wicked sense of humour of a woman from both sides of society.
My role models are the working-class men that drop their guard, even for a moment and let you see the vulnerability within them. The women trailblazing and challenging every single stereotype society has enforced on them. The women that lived with pain and addiction and laid themselves bare to let recovery in. The men and women that society needs to see more of ."
RuthAnne Cunningham
RuthAnne Cunningham is one of Ireland’s most successful international songwriters. An award-winning and Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and producer, she has been writing hit songs since she was 17.
In 2020, RuthAnne formed Irish Women in Harmony, a collective of Irish female singers and musicians that recorded a version of the Cranberries' song Dreams in aid of the charity Safe Ireland, which works to end domestic violence and coercive control in Ireland.
" Professionally, navigating the business side of the music industry as a woman has been challenging. There’s a lot of misogyny, boys’ club mentality, and it really takes its toll on your mental health. I tackled the challenge head on and overcame it by putting everything I had into the music, ignoring the noise, the hype, the misogyny and pushing forward with my talent always leading ."
" In my personal life, my battle with endometriosis and adenomyosis has been the most significant challenge I've ever faced; it affected my quality of life, my body and my mental health and I’m still living with it and learning how to manage it. There is so little research and funding into women's menstrual health and so little education into a very common and horrific chronic, incurable disease that many women are suffering from ."
“What I’ve learned in life is: Trust the process! Understand that everyone’s journey is different; things happen for people in different ways and at different times in their lives, and that’s ok. Life is not a race. There’s no rush and everything comes together in the end, and works out how it’s meant to for you. Keep working hard, growing as a person, and working on yourself. Comparison is the thief of joy .”
Suzanne Jackson
Suzanne Jackson is Ireland’s most successful blogger turned businesswoman. A multi-millionaire entrepreneur, she is the brains behind one of Ireland's leading fashion and lifestyle blogs, SoSueMe and the founder of bestselling Beauty Brands SOSU by Suzanne Jackson and Dripping Gold.
A TV presenter on RTE’s Style Counsellors, she is currently on Dancing With the Stars.
Suzanne is passionate about giving back and has donated thousands to worthwhile causes over the years, including €10,000 in 2020 to those working on the Covid frontline. She also raised €50,000 in 2021 for breast cancer research.
" I am extremely passionate about what I do and have never allowed myself to doubt my ability; as a woman, that is really empowering. I think my passion for my business and my brand has enabled me to overcome the challenges I've faced along the way. It's fantastic to see so many other women doing the same thing."
" My greatest achievement is definitely my drive and my will to never give up, no matter how many times I’m knocked back or fall down. I don’t believe in quitting. Everything that happens to us in life, either professionally or personally, happens for a reason and teaches us something. It has been a wild journey for me, and I am constantly learning every day ."
" Don’t worry about getting knocked down. Instead, focus on getting back up as quickly as possible, dust yourself off and move on. Remember, patience and persistence pay off ."
Dr Maeve O'Rourke
Dr. Maeve O’Rourke is a lecturer and lawyer. She graduated from University College Dublin in 2009, from Harvard Law School in 2010, and gained her PhD from the University of Birmingham in 2018.
A human rights advocate and campaigner since she was a teenager, as a barrister, she focused on family law and also spent a year on a case against Shell Nigeria, representing 15,000 members of a community devastated by oil spills.
Maeve has worked voluntarily with survivors of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries, Mother and Baby Homes, seeking access to information, accountability, and redress for the abuses that women and girls were subjected to, including forced family separation. She co-authored Ireland and the Magdalene Laundries: A Campaign for Justice.
" It’s important to mind your sense of self, and to talk to trusted friends or family about experiences you’ve had that feel like bullying or intimidation. People close to you can help you to keep perspective, to know that you are not the problem, and to work through unhelpful or harmful situations ."
" I have worked voluntarily with Justice for Magdalenes and the Clann Project and many survivors and lawyers to help people to record their testimony, and tackle injustices in the Magdalene Redress Scheme and the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation process. I continue to research and advocate for an end to the secrecy of family separation and institutional "care" records, and for inquests, truth-telling and full reparation in response to Ireland’s "historical" abuses ."
"We still live in a sexist world where girls and women often do not have equal access to the resources they need to achieve their ambitions and are subjected to attitudes that limit their progress. We need strong female role models to combat this."
Amy Martin is the author of "See It, Be It: Twenty Irish Women, Twenty Inspiring Stories".Buy it on https://see-it-be-it.sumupstore.com/ or by emailing SeeItBeItByAmy@gmail.com
All profits from the sale of the book will be donated to The Shona Project and Work Equal.
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