Is Ireland more receptive to women politicians?
A. No, it’s not at all. Northern Ireland is very traditional country. It doesn’t have a single female high court judge and there are very few women politicians. The old structure worked against them. It was predominantly the church patriarchy, the old system where the guys appointed themselves in the court system and in the political system they didn’t think that a woman running for office would be as effective or get the support. Q. What does the Women’s Coalition want? A. The first issue for us is inclusion in the political process. Our country is a very pluralist country and it needs to have that represented, both in terms of the structure and the process. Our political culture was very adversarial. We were called cows and scum and dogs and told to go home and breed for Ulster, to stand by our man. The second issue is human rights, and the third is equality. Q. What political advice do you have for women? A. Recognize that there’s a window of opportunity that comes and you need to t
