All-Island Event Calls for Action to Promote Women’s Leadership
Published: Wednesday, September 03, 2025
Women’s voices and experiences are crucial for the functioning of our democracy. Yet, despite many women’s roles as community leaders right across the island, they remain significantly underrepresented in our political system North and South. This particularly affects women from marginalised communities, including Traveller, disabled and migrant women.
Today (Wednesday, 3rd September, 2025),at Reimagining Leadership, an event hosted by the National Women’s Council’s (NWC) All Island Women’s Forum at Queen’s University Belfast, feminist activists, political leaders, and community organisers discussed how to achieve greater representation of women in politics and explored forms of feminist leadership, including community leadership, that go beyond the traditional political system. Rather than conforming to the existing system, participants explored what a truly feminist leadership would mean that embraces feminist values, principles and approaches.
Historically, Northern Ireland has had the lowest proportion of women representatives among all UK devolved institutions—only 35.5% of seats at the national level and 31.5% of council positions are held by women.
In the Republic, the UN recently highlighted Ireland’s concerningly low representation of women in the Dáil – 25% of seats – and in the Cabinet, where only three out of 15 ministers are women.
At the same time, many women are already playing important leadership roles at local and community level which are not recognised sufficiently.
Orla O’Connor, Director of the NWC said:
“Achieving gender balance in politics is essential to ensure that policies reflect women’s needs and perspectives, leading to stronger, experienced-based policy outcomes. However, women face significant barriers when it comes to political representation and women’s full participation in all aspects of our society. Many of these barriers are faced by women both North and South – including the unequal distribution of care responsibilities, the lack of childcare and family friendly working environments as well as growing online hostility and violence that women in public life face.”
She added:
“To promote women’s leadership we need a series of clear actions. At political level, NWC is calling for the introduction of gender quotas at local level in the South and the exploration of similar measures on an all-island basis. In addition, we need to support the structures led by women, including by investing into civil society and community spaces that allow women from diverse backgrounds to come together, reflect and campaign.”
Aoife Clements, 50/50 NI, Founder:
"So much of the policy and legislative decisions that are made today are made within the confines of a political system that is male-centric and therefore limiting when it comes to creating substantive change, not just for women but all marginalised and oppressed groups, as well as our planet. Truly feminist politics requires conceptual, bureaucratic and political change. For that, we need more women, more diverse experiences, and importantly more creativity and imagination."
Geraldine McAteer, former councillor for Belfast City, said:
"Women are leading in their communities across the North and are making a vital contribution to developing thriving communities, but they are often operating without adequate, sustainable funding and recognition of the value of this work. Community development and regeneration work is a vital building block in our society and must be properly resourced and invested in. Vibrant and thriving community groups and organisations are also fertile ground for identifying new, diverse women political candidates—political parties should be looking to these groups to recruit.”
Other speakers at the event included: Professor Pauline Cullen; Dr. Salome Mbugua, CEO, AkiDwA; Senator Lynn Ruane; Joanne Sansome, Disability Activist and Campaigner.