Our health service is utterly failing seriously ill people

In all the recent election debates, there was just one mention of mental health. Only one party (Fianna Fáil) gave much more than a paragraph to the subject in its manifesto. Nobody won or lost a seat based on it, although it’s been acknowledged now for quite some time that both the health service and the [...]

Rwanda’s women get ahead, while Ireland prepares for quotas

Mary Lou McDonald had to fight for maternity leave from the Dail - there is currently no provision for this. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) I wrote this piece in March after a trip to Rwanda to meet women politicians there, and after spending about four months shadowing and interviewing women politicians in Ireland. I just [...]

Rwanda

Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa AND has very fertile soil. This is how that works out. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) At the moment I am busy making plans for a trip to Rwanda in February. I received funding from Irish Aid's Simon Cumbers Media Fund last summer for a project on [...]

In memory of John McCarthy

It was fantastic to see mental health and suicide being discussed on RTÉ Frontline last night. It can be unusual to see constructive discussion on current affairs programming, but I think that's what the Frontline team achieved with the mix of guests - Minister Kathleen Lynch is a strong voice for mental health and within the [...]

2012-01-17T20:00:46+00:00 January 17th, 2012|Categories: Opinion|Tags: , , , , , , , |

International Women's Day

This is the speech I gave last night at a great event run by Cork Feminista to celebrate the 100th International Women's Day Introduction Good evening everyone, and happy 100th International Women’s Day! When I was sitting down to write this speech, I began to think about the recent election; the role of women in Irish [...]

2011-03-09T10:54:41+00:00 March 9th, 2011|Categories: Opinion|Tags: , , , , , |

What are the odds?

With only 6 women out of 67 candidates running throughout Cork, the odds are certainly not stacking up at 50-50. As Áine Kerr wrote in yesterday’s Irish Times, Mná na hÉireann are losing ground. But that’s all set to change, if a new group set up in Cork before Christmas has its way. The [...]