Author Margaret Ward to speak at Sinn Féin International Women’s Day event

3 March, 2009

A Sinn Féin event to celebrate International Women’s Day will feature respected historian and author Margaret Ward.

Bairbre de Brún MEP will introduce the conference, which will begin at 1.00pm on Saturday, March 7, at the Balmoral Hotel in Belfast.

Speaking ahead of the event Bairbre de Brún said: “Margaret Ward is the chair of the Women’s Centre Regional Partnership and an acclaimed author. Her work has made
an invaluable contribution to documenting the rich history of the role of Irish women in the national and republican movement, and in the movement for gender equality.”

Margaret Ward will be delivering two presentations, themed ‘Unmanageable Revolutionaries’ and ‘The Life of Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington’, which will be followed by a discussion.

Ms de Brún continued: “We will not only be discussing the historical role of women in Irish politics but the contribution of women today, all over the world, to the ongoing struggle for equality and social progress.

“While we will be celebrating how far this struggle for equality has come, we will also be discussing the key challenges faced by women today, in Ireland and nternationally.”

Music and entertainment celebrating International Women’s Day will close the conference. Information stalls from various different community and voluntary sector organisations will be provided and alternative therapy sessions will also be organised for participants.

This conference is being organised by Sinn Féin’s Gender Equality department.