Women, Community and Politics in Northern Ireland
by Grainne McCoy
As Sales (1997) and others have noted, there has been a stronger tradition of a community-based oppositional politics among the Catholic/nationalist population in Northern Ireland , because of its alienated relationship to the state. While voluntary organizations and pressure group activity has also had its place among the Protestant population, radical politics was more likely to take the form of trade unionism or left -wing or radical; party politics. By the late 1980s, however, various influences had led to a reduction in this divergence, especially where women's involvement was concerned. A growing sense of alienation based on fear of betrayal by the British state among sections of the Protestant population, and the effects of Conservative government welfare policies on the fabric of social life, produced a new style of political engagement which brought more women into action. They too were demanding, among other things, better housing, education resources and fairer treatment for young people (Porter 1998)).
There has been, since the 1970s, a feminist movement in Northern Ireland, which has been influential despite its relatively small support base. There were attempts, in the 1970s, to form a unified women's movement, which would give priority to gender over the other aspects of identity. The Northern Ireland Women's Rights Movement (NIWRM), founded in 1975, was the largest such group. Their ideal of a cross-community movement of Catholic and Protestant women, as Eilish Rooney argues in Chapter 8, was regarded by other feminists as a denial and suppression of differences (Roulston 1997) and were numerous splits and regroupings. In Northern Ireland feminists, like socialists, remained divided over the issue of nationalism.
Feminist groups generally attracted academic, professional and trade union
women. As Cockburn (1998) and Millar et al. (1996) observe, it is certainly
true that the majority of women involved in community politics were unlikely
to identify themselves as feminists. Nonetheless, feminist ideas and insights
have inspired campaigns about important issues which have changed policies
and attitudes. The Northern Ireland Women's Aid Federation, which has gone
from strength to strength, was founded at this time. Trade union campaigns
for equal pay for women and to extend the Sex Discrimination Act to Northern
Ireland have had long-term effects (Evason 1991). The EOCNI, as already
noted, has been a most effective advocate on all women's issues and has
forged links between the different strands of women's community politics.
In a number of campaigns around certain key issues for women, these connections
have made for more effective action. |
