By Saoirse Higgins
Features Editor
Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley.
Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley is an esteemed historian of gender, women and childhood in Ireland who has worked as a professor in NUI Galway for several years. She is the co-author of the best-selling book ‘Old Ireland in Colour’, which is only one of her many accomplishments. She is also the co-principal investigator on the Tuam Oral History Project which aims to form a public archive of stories from survivors of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home. Dr Buckley has also worked on projects like the podcast entitled ‘Others: Stories from the Tuam Mother and Baby Home’ which tells the tales of three survivors narrated by Cillian Murphy. Dr Buckley brings a lot to the table for NUI Galway and was kind enough to sit with SIN to discuss her thoughts on women’s equality, influences in her own life, and how she got to where she is today.
In general, do you think women are treated equally in Ireland?
I think that we still have areas in which women certainly are not – from the gender pay gap, to the unequal distribution of caring duties, to the violence and abuse women and non-binary people suffer to varying degrees on a daily/weekly basis. I think this is perpetuated by other factors, like social class, race, ethnicity etc. and I still believe we live in a society that is quite patriarchal, and while we have made large advances, it is not equal in my mind.
Who was the most influential woman in your life?
I have had and still have some very important female mentors, friends and family that have helped me in enormous ways, but the most influential woman has been my Mam. It is a cliché, but if you are lucky enough to have someone in your corner who is that supportive and challenging and knows you that well, I think it’s pretty special. She has a steeliness to her and a determination I’ve learned from, but she’s also from West Cork and great craic which is a great bonus.
What advice would you give your 20-year-old self?
Nothing is that serious. Almost everything is recoverable.
What quality of yours do you think brought you to where you are today?
Blind optimism and a confidence that I can complete stuff if I set my mind to it. Finishing my PhD was probably one of the proudest moments in my life – just seeing it through and I think that however you get there try to do a bit every day and it’ll build up over time.
Do you think women’s rights have progressed much in your lifetime?
I think they have; I feel more comfortable in Ireland today than I did fifteen years ago but I think that’s the result of grassroots activism and women/non-binary people putting their personal lives, their stories, their fight out there for the rest of us. By the time ideas come into mainstream understanding many people have fought for many years and we need to acknowledge that when the politicians are taking credit.
Róisín Níc Lochlainn
Róisín Níc Lochlainn is the current Vice President for Welfare and Equality in NUI Galway’s Students’ Union. She has campaigned in the time before and during her position for women’s issues such as image-based sexual abuse, consent, sexual abuse & harassment and much more. She has been successful in achievements in her time as officer when it comes to helping students receive rent refunds, hold sexual health awareness talks, integrating Irish more into the lives of students with a motion to change the name of the student council and encouraging sustainable actions in students. Róisin has been very open about her own experiences and has helped many women across NUI Galway come to terms with their own experiences. Róisín sat down with SIN to share her thoughts.
In general, do you think women are treated equally in Ireland?
I believe we are seeing steps in the right direction, but I think that Ireland has a long way to go in terms of reaching full gender equality and righting the wrongs of our past. We only need to look at the mother and baby homes, the lack of adequate reproductive rights, the lack of laws on image-based sexual abuse, the way victims of abuse are treated by our legal system, and how late we were on marriage equality, to name a few.
I only mention this as it is something personal to me, but even when you think of pregnancy and miscarriage – women are generally told not to announce pregnancies until the 12–week mark – because it is usually prior to that that miscarriages occur, and what could be worse than having people know the shame of miscarriage? That tradition of keeping it a secret until the 12–week mark is to shame women and make sure that anything that goes wrong is kept a secret.
We do need more women in politics, but not necessarily electoral politics. We need to empower more women to become leaders in their communities, trade union organisers, etc. That includes women of colour, non-binary, and trans women.
I, myself, am an Irish Republican, but even learning about our history and Irish movements – the women that played a role in the revolution still are not talked about half as much as the men are. We all know Pádraig Pearse, James Connolly, Joseph Plunkett etc. (and rightfully so), but what about Helena Molony, Rosie Hackett, The Gifford Girls? Ireland doesn’t want to give women credit for the work that they do and the role that they play in Irish society. The revolution would have fallen apart had it not been for the women.
In terms of today’s society, I am from Antrim and we only got marriage equality last year. We had to get our reproductive rights through Westminster in Britain. So, while I feel that there are positive steps forward as seen by repeal, endIBSA, influential women like Mairéad Farrell in the Dáil, I still believe we are far behind other countries. We need more women at the forefront of organisations, but not just any women – women that will put women’s issues to the forefront.
Who is the most influential woman in your life?
Not so much in my life, but the most influential woman that I look up to would be Angela Davis.
What advice would you give young girls when it comes to home and/or work life?
To be loud, to be outspoken, and to always stand up for what you believe in. Being loud and outspoken might make you some enemies, but they’re not the kind of people you would want in your life anyway. The right people will appreciate that you speak out on what you are passionate about, the wrong people would label you a troublemaker,
“Here’s to the ‘crazy’ ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes … the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. … the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
Advice for women my age and older: to be the person that they needed when they were younger! And, dump him.
What quality of yours brought you to where you are today?
I think resilience. I think if we’re speaking in terms of being welfare officer, I think I have personally been through a lot of what would be considered traumatic events in my 21 years, but I have come out stronger and want to help people who might be in a similar position to what I have been in. I also think being passionate and outspoken is important because people know that I will stand by my principles and try to fight for what I think is right so I think that’s a quality everyone should have.
Do you think NUI Galway offers many opportunities for women?
I think all universities, including NUI Galway, could do more, but there are opportunities there. It was great that the counselling service got LGBT+ ally training this year and in terms of the SU we’re constantly seeing more women class reps and more interest in SU positions from young women. The committees that I sit on all have an equal gender balance, but I do think there needs to be more efforts by men, especially older men, to take women seriously, to not speak over them, to realise that they are just as capable, if not more, as them. I think a massive step forward would be if campus living would offer the option on applications for students to have the choice of living with other LGBT students if they so wish.
Emma Sweeney
Emma Sweeney is the Vice President for Education in the Students’ Union here in NUI Galway. Emma does great work behind the scenes, helping students with any issues that happens with their education. She helps students with issues related to grants, examinations, the library and so on. She has done great work especially when it comes to reopening study spaces for students that has just come through earlier this month. She sat down with SIN to give her insights on women’s equality and much more.
In general, do you think women are treated equally in Ireland?
I think there is much more of an equal treatment of women than there was ten years ago. I think more can certainly be done to improve and promote equal treatment but there has definitely been a shift in the right direction. There are still issues with the gender pay–gap and lack of representation, but I think we can look back proudly on the work that has been done in terms of promoting more women into higher roles in politics and the media and with the women 20×20 campaign there is certainly more work being done to promote women in sports.
Who is the most influential woman in your life?
My mom is definitely the most influential woman in my life. She is incredibly supportive and, as cliché as it sounds, I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today without her. She has always been the heart of our family and always makes someone feel like the most important person in the world. With her, there is no such thing as a bad day and that positivity is so infectious. She recently went back to college which was a huge inspiration to me, and she managed to run a household while being one of the top students in her class and a support to all her classmates.
What advice would you give young girls when it comes to home and/or work life?
I think balance is incredibly important but also putting yourself first. I didn’t realise how important that was until this year. Last year I worked two jobs and was doing a diploma in college, I didn’t realise how much of a toll that had taken until I really reflected on how I treated myself that year. I also tried to be in too many places at once and couldn’t sit still. My big piece of advice would be to try and find a balance and look after yourself – if you don’t, how can you look after anyone else?
What quality of yours brought you to where you are today?
Determination and hard work would be the two qualities that have not only brought me here but opened a lot of doors. Determination and reaching my goals was something that was instilled in me from years of martial arts training – you get out what you put in and that’s why I think determination and perseverance are incredibly important. When people see you work hard and are determined to do things to the best of your ability, they recognise and appreciate it.
Do you think NUI Galway offers many opportunities for women?
I think, historically, NUI Galway was a very different place. I think now there are much more opportunities for women. There is no doubt that more needs to be done in promoting women in NUI Galway but if you look at the very senior roles, there are definitely more women than five or six years ago. This has also been helped by making sure there are gender quotas to enable women to get more opportunities, and with committees like the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion committee, it recognises the need to make NUI Galway a more equal campus. Societies like WISTEM are also incredible for promoting women in more male–dominated fields.
As we’ve seen from our three interviewees, NUI Galway have some great women in their midst and, as we see another International Women’s Day come and go, it’s important that we acknowledge how far women have come and the accomplishments they have achieved. There is also a need to make sure we always strive towards equality for everyone, and that NUI Galway help foster an environment of equality in the 21st Century.
