Women say – 'It's our story too'

TWO EVENTS that took place around International Women's Day (March 8) saw Belfast republican women highlight the central role played by women activists in the struggle.

The first event, held saw members of the Tar Anall Over 50s Group unveil the quilt they have made in honour of the many women who took part in the Rising in 1916, giving them their place in history. As well as the Belfast women Winifred Carney and the Corr sisters, the quilt also remembers Kathleen Lynn and Elizabeth Farrell, amongst others.

The launch of the quilt, which took place in the atrium of Conway Mill on Wednesday 9 March, included a drama written by Rosaleen Walsh, where teenage schoolgirls become aware of their history and the importance of culture.

The Mairéad Farrell monologue delivered by Clíodhna Nic Bhranair, in which the young member of the Mairéad Farrell Republican Youth Committee chartered the life of the iconic republican through her developing political awareness, imprisonment and finally execution on Gibraltar in 1988, was a tribute to not only Farrell but all the other women who have given so much – including their lives – in the fight for freedom.

The quilt was unveiled by two women whose names are synonymous with struggle; Jennifer McCann, now a Junior Minister in the Northern Executive, and Eibhlín Glenholmes, both of whom are playing important leadership roles in the political development of republicanism across the country with Sinn Féin.

And, in time honoured republican tradition, the occasion was closed as the members of the Over 50s group belting out the song 'Invisible Women' written by An Phoblacht's much-missed cartoonist Brian Moore, better known as Cormac. His satire crossed all political boundaries.

On Saturday 12 March, the focus shifted to the Macalla na mBan Garden of Remembrance in the Roddy McCorley Club where another series of inspirational events paid tribute to republican women.

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