Friday, January 24, 2020
How to Speech :: essays research papers
How to Assemble an Easter Basket Video Title page: How to Assemble an Easter Basket 1.     Front, WS: Instructor gives an introduction. 2.     Front, CU: Basket in shot by itself. 3.     Front, MS: Instructor holds up basket and speaks. 4.     Side, MS: Instructor speaks about first step. 5.     Side, CU: Instructor’s hands put pink Easter grass into Easter basket. 6.     Front, CU: Easter basket is shown with pink Easter grass inside it. 7.     Front, MS: Instructor speaks about the main ingredients of the Easter basket, candy and Easter eggs that sit on table. 8.     Front, CU: Instructor points to the candy and Easter eggs, with one open and shows how to stuff the egg with candy. 9.     Front, CU: Instructor places candy and eggs into basket. 10.     Front, CU: Easter basket is shown with candy and eggs inside it. 11.     Diagonal, MS: Instructor holds up the last item to go into the Easter basket, the little bunny. 12.     Diagonal, CU: Instructor places little bunny inside basket. 13.     Top, CU: Shot of pink grass. 14.     Top, CU: Shot of candy and Easter eggs. 15.     Top, CU: Shot of little bunny. 16.     Front, WS: Instructor closes while holding the Easter basket towards the camera. Fade to Black Audio Theme music up full and out. 1.     Hi, my name is --------, and today I’m going to show you how to assemble a basic Easter basket. 2.     First, you must pick just the right basket. 3.     This one looks good to me. 4.     The first step in assembling the Easter basket is pink Easter grass. 5.     Place the pink grass into the basket, and make sure to fluff it. 6.     Here’s what your basket should look like after the pink grass. 7.     Next, the Easter basket needs candy and Easter eggs. 8.     You can find plastic Easter eggs at your local Wal-Mart, and you want to open the egg, place the candy inside, and close it back together. These two eggs already have candy. 9.     Put the candy and Easter eggs into the basket. 10.     Make sure and spread out the candy and eggs so it looks even and nice.
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
A Christmas Carol (English Coursework)
During 1843 Charles Dickens wrote a novel ‘A Christmas Carol'. The novel was influences by the experience Charles Dickens had of the social divide of the rich and the poor during the Victorian times. Charles Dickens had a terrible childhood, his family spent several years in increasing poverty. Dickens was sent to work long hours in a blacking factory. This was because his father was imprisoned for debt in 1824. Dickens spent ten hours a day sticking labels on pots of boot blacking. His life was miserable and he was determined to improve the quality of his and those of other poor people. Crime rates increased dramatically due to poverty and destitution. The memories of these hard times haunted dickens for the rest of his life. He felt bad about the neglect of the poor. In a lot of his work he describes the issues with poverty and the social and physical conditions of Victorian London. He compares these conditions to the wealthy, luxurious lifestyles of the upper class to bring awareness of the disgusting standards of living at the lower end of society, so that everyone could be educated on this subject, he even gave public reading of his own work. London's industrial age helped the UK to become rich and successful. However, this era had affected the country physically, socially, and culturally, because of the establishment of the factory system. Many people began moving to cities in search of a secure job, this lead to a huge growth in the population. This caused there to be three times more people living in Great Britain at the end of the century than the beginning. The overcrowding resulted in conditions that were dangerous and caused an increase in crime and poverty. In London the river Thames was full of sewage and the air was full of soot and pollution. Young children and adults were forced to work 14 hours a day and were paid rock bottom wages even though they were working in life threatening conditions. The poor had no jobs, not enough food and had a low life expectancy of twenty nine. This was because most people in the bottom end of society were malnourished which was caused by starvation they also couldn't afford healthcare. However, the higher classes made increasing profits at the expense of the poor. The rich took advantage of the poor by forcing them to work long hours in life threatening conditions for little pay. The rich thought the poor were poor because they were lazy and couldn't be bothered to do anything. At the beginning of the novel the reader is immediately given a negative impression of scrooge being a stingy old man. Dickens emphasises the point by describing Scrooge with many words that all mean nearly the same: â€Å"Oh but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! This is effective in showing the reader that his desire for money comes before anything else. It shows that his number one priority is making as much profit as possible. This makes the reader get the impression that Scrooge is extremely horrible and greedy. When Dickens uses weather to describe Scrooge he makes him sound as horrible as possible, a man who has no feelings. â€Å"External heat and cold has little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. †Dickens suggests that no weather has an affect on him whether it's cold or hot. Scrooge is much too cold hearted to be affected by anything or anyone, no matter what time of year. Scrooge is presented as being unattractive and having no emotions. â€Å"The cold within him froze his old features,†this makes the reader think the cold from inside him has made him ugly on the outside. This description of Scrooge is made even more unpleasant when it is compared to that of Scrooges cheerful nephew. When Scrooges nephew, Fred comes to wish Scrooge a merry Christmas Scrooge replies by saying, â€Å"what reason do you have to be merry? This shows the reader that Scrooge has no respect for his nephew. It is also ironic as he thinks no poor person has anything to be merry about, But he is rich and miserable. He, like many of the rich at that time believed the poor are poor because they are lazy. When two men come to Scrooge to ask for money to give to charity he replies, â€Å"I don't make merry myself at Christmas, and I can't afford to make idle people merry. †This shows that scrooge is hard-hearted and doesn't see the poor as people but sees them as a problem. Scrooge thinks that the poor should be left to die to decrease the population as there was overcrowding in London at the time this novel was written. ‘If they would rather die' Said Scrooge, ‘they had better do it, ‘and decrease the surplus population. The miserable and gloomy mood of Scrooge is further emphasised by Dickens use of pathetic fallacy. â€Å"The fog comes pouring in at every chink and keyhole†¦ â€Å"The houses opposite were mere phantoms. †The use of pathetic fallacy creates a dull atmosphere which matches the atmosphere created by Scrooge. The use of the word ‘Phantoms' creates an even spookier atmosphere. It is almost as if what ever Scrooge is feeling he will make the same atmosphere and weather as he is feeling. In stave three Dickens describes the Market Place and the poor part of town: both give a different impression to the reader. â€Å"There were great round potbellied baskets of chest nuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentleman,†By Dickens using this simile it makes the reader think of father Christmas because he is often described as being happy and joyful. This is effective in showing that people don't have to be rich to be joyful. This description of the market place is made even more cheerful when compared to the miserable and unpleasant, poor part of town which is shown to be a depressing and disheartening place to live. The description of the poor part of town is shown as being even more unattractive, â€Å"The people half naked, drunken, slipshod, ugly. †The comparison between the cheerful market place and the poor part of town is really important because it shows how the rich people live and how depressing the lives of poor people are. This is effective in showing people how lucky they are compared to the poor people's lifestyles. Victorian society is reflected as being greedy and non-caring and also shows the massive social divide between the rich and the poor. By the end of the novel Scrooge has completely transformed from being a bitter and miserable old sinner into a more cheerful and energetic youthful man. He used to be, â€Å"A squeezing, wrenching, clutching, covetous, old sinner! †whereas at the end of the novel he describes himself as, â€Å"I am as light as a feather. I am as happy as a school boy, I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! †This description of Scrooge shows that he is no longer a grumpy old man and now has changed into a much more youthful and jolly man. He no longer thinks that he is better than all poor people and that poor people can't be merry. In this section of the novel there is a lot of exclamation marks and short sentences used to show that he is peaking excitedly, this enhances the fact that he is in a happy and enthusiastic mood. This use of short sentences and exclamation marks almost makes Scrooge sound younger. In my opinion ‘A Christmas Carol' is really effective in informing the reader of the social divide between the rich and the poor during Victorian times. I think that the book would have been good at informing the rich about the appalling living standards of the poor par of town. There was no other way for the rich people to find out about this because they had never been to this part of the town. I think that Charles Dickens was trying to make everyone aware of the poverty and overcrowding the poor people were going through, he was emotionally attached because he had been through this for most of his childhood and early adulthood.
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Why are there so few women in positions of power in Northern Ireland
Sample details Pages: 30 Words: 9145 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Few women have made an impact on politics in Northern Ireland. The political culture and traditions of Northern Ireland politics are very much male-oriented and whilst women have worked hard for change behind the scenes for many years, few have taken the step into standing as candidates in elections, less still successfully winning elections. Following the Belfast Agreement, things may, slowly, be beginning to change. Mo Mowlam writes enthusiastically of the part that women played in the talks leading up to the Agreement: one of the most remarkable aspects of the talks process was seeing women, not only in the Womens Coalition, but also in other parties, sitting alongside their male colleagues and arguing their points. They brought a new quality of debate to the proceeding (Galligan, Ward Wilford 1999).Nonetheless, despite the election of three women MPs in the first general election (2001) after the Belfast Agreement, women remain massively under-represented in politics in Northern Ireland. This dissertation examines the reasons for this. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Why are there so few women in positions of power in Northern Ireland | Politics Dissertation" essay for you Create order Chapter two looks at the traditional role of women in politics, both in Northern Ireland and in other parts of the world. Election in the UK and policies towards women of other British parties are examined. The chapter also looks at womens movements abroad, in the likes of South Africa and Nicaragua and analyses how they have affected the political landscape in their own countries. Chapter three takes a general overview of women in Northern Ireland, commenting on how they have reacted to the traditional view and values of the Church and the State in the province. The formation of the earlier Womens movements is detailed here although these groups have remained on the borders on mainstream politics, the fact that women have for decades joined together on particular issues is important in the context of womens involvement in politics. The difficulties face by women in what is a conservative, traditional and often sexist culture is also discussed. Chapter four looks at the attitudes towards women in politics held by voters in Northern Ireland and analyses whether the small number of women involved is determined by supply or demand factors. Using data from the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, this chapter argues that there is no lack of demand for women to be involved in politics amongst the electorate, rather that a number of factors around the inclination of women to enter into politics and the traditional views that still hold sway in Northern Ireland, are influential. This chapter also makes use of research undertaken in interviewing a number of women councillors in Northern Ireland about their perceptions on why many women avoid political life. Various reason for women to remain outside of representative politics are given again he traditional culture of Northern Ireland and perceptions about a womans role are seen as important, Chapter five examines in details the attitudes and policies of the main political parties in Northern Ireland towards womens issues and the role of women within the political parties themselves. Parties in Northern Ireland have traditionally focused primarily on constitutional and security issues to the detriment of womens issues. Party leadership in parties across the political spectrum have been male dominated. This chapter looks at each of the main parties, examining firstly how party structures and leaderships accommodate female members and secondly how party policy makers address (or fail to address)womens issues. Chapter six provides a conclusion to the dissertation. The situation in Northern Ireland where women have traditionally had difficulties establishing themselves within the formal political process has been mirrored, if perhaps not to such an extent, in other Western democracies. Evidence from UK elections indicates a historical prejudice against women candidates, whilst elsewhere in Europe and across the world, there are examples of women having to draw together on their identity as women to challenge their exclusion from politics. Analysis of general elections in Britain indicates that many fewer women than men are selected as prospective parliamentary candidates and those that are usually chosen for less hopeful seats (Leonard and Mortimore 2001, p97). However, the number of has candidates has grown reasonably steadily since 1996, with parties gradually accepting the need to take steps to increase the number of women selected. The Conservative in particular have found this difficult, largely due to the reluctance of the party leadership to interfere with the autonomy and conservative nature of many of its local associations. The Labour Party has had more success. Its party conference took the decision in1993 to try to increase its number of women MPs by introducing policies of positive discrimination. The introduction of all-women shortlist and quotas proved controversial, with the process being deemed illegal by an industrial tribunal in 1996, yet the drive by Labour to increase womens representation paid di vidends with the partys victory in the1997 election, the number of women in the house of Commons doubled to120 (Leonard and Mortimore 2001, p97). Elections for regional assemblies in Scotland and Wales have seen an increase in the number of women winning seats. The systems of proportional representation used in these elections has allowed Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the nationalist policies to ensure that candidates on lists were alternately male and female. As a result over38 per cent of representatives at Holyrood and 40 per cent at Cardiff Bay have been women (Leonard and Mortimore 2001, p98). Elsewhere, women have made direct interventions within their political systems to ensure that they are represented within the political process. In Spain, the Womens Democratic Movement (WDM) began as an opposition group to the Franco regime and went onto lobby for womens interests during the countrys democratic transition. It successfully pressured the government into ratifying the Convention for Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). In Iceland the Icelandic Womens Alliance (IWA) emerged in the 1980s as a group powerful to win 11.1% of a national poll (Fearon 1999 appendix 1). In Sweden, the issue of womens participation in politics directly compelled women to join together on a cross-party basis in the prelude to the 1994 elections. As a result, Sweden then elected what Faluditerms the most female government in the world a parliament that was41% female with a cabinet that was 50% female. (Fearon 1999, appendix1). More relevant to the issues around womens political involvement in Northern Ireland are the examples of South Africa and Nicaragua, where women have acted together to challenge male-dominated political times when their countries have been undergoing periods of transition. In Nicaragua, women achieved political gains during the revolutionary period but, perceiving that these gains were not being fully transferred to the new society after a transitional period, women joined together to form the Nicaraguan National Coalition of Women(NNCW) in January 1996. Under this cross-party coalition women joined together to educate and themselves and prepared themselves to go backend fight elections within their existing parties in October of that year. The aim was to promote the equitable participation of women in the countrys politics, something that was made difficult, as women within the coalition had historically been political or even military enemies. There were certainly some similarities with Northern Ireland and the group had to strive hard to focus on unity and reaching a consensus. The NNCW was able to agree a minimum agenda emphasising womens participation in civil and political society. In South Africa, women had become influenced by the experiences of womens organisations around the world and the ANC Womens League(ANCWL) sparked a debate across the country about the necessity of organising as women (Fearon 2001 appendix1). In September 1991 thirty womens organisations came together in the Womens National Coalition(WNC) to discuss the drawing up of a womens charter on equality. The charter was eventually produced after a huge participatory exercise that included an estimated 2 million women and was made up of twelve articles, one of which called for mechanisms to enable womens participation in civic and political life (Fearon 2001 appendix 1) The charter was vitally important to the development of women in politics in South Africa as it challenged traditional perceptions and values about the womans place in political and civic life. Another success of the WNC was to lobby hard for a ruling passed in 1993 that required all negotiation delegations to reserve space for women. Prior to the formation of the NIWC, the impact that individuals or groups of women had made on Northern Ireland politics had been relatively minimal. There are however a few examples of women who, although not directly involved as representatives in the political process, made their presence known. In the 1970s, two Belfast women, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan won the Nobel Peace Prize for leading a peace movement that aimed to end the violence by way of people power. Inspired to action following the death of three children in a car chase involving IRA men, the Peace People as the movement was known called on the people of Northern Ireland to reject terrorism and quickly snowballed into a movement that could attract tens of thousands of people onto the streets in outdoor rallies. The movement eventually failed due to internal divisions within the movement, personality clashes and disputes on how to spend the Nobel Prize money. Whilst still surviving today, the Peace People is n ow a small-scale movement that failed to deliver on the hopes that it once raised. Helen McKendry was a brave Belfast woman who campaigned to raise the issue of the so-called disappeared victims of the IRA, who had included her own mother Jean McConville, taken from the family home in1972 and never heard of again (Independent, March 2, 2005). Following the IRA ceasefire in 1994, McKendry launched a campaign to have her mothers body returned and eventually pressured the IRA into giving details about the location of her mothers body and those of other victims. May Blood was a woman that played a prominent role in the loyalist community for many years, prior to involvement in the NIWC. She was a determined community activist in the Shankhill Road district, concentrating on issues such as housing, welfare, jobs, training, employment and labour relations. Speaking after she had been made across-bench peer in 2000, Baroness Blood stated: My life is about serving this community, particularly young people. For years they have just been fodder for the paramilitaries. We want the next generation to be real people with real futures. (Independent, March 2, 2005). It is worth noting that like May Blood, the trend in Northern Ireland has generally been for women activists to concentrate on community development rather than electoral politics. The situation of women in Northern Ireland is not entirely unique. Whilst the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland affect politics at all levels, the fact remains that women in Northern Ireland share comm on experiences with women elsewhere in terms of the difficulties that they have making an impact in the political arena. Rightly or wrongly, representative politics around the world remains largely dominated by males, and in this respect women in Northern Ireland face the same challenges as women elsewhere. Analysis of the womens movement in Northern Ireland or attempters tointegrate women more fully into the political process must understandsome of the cultural traditions and influences that affect womenslives. As Monica McWilliams states: the role which both the Church andState play shapes not only the more traditional thinking behind some ofthe major institutions, such as the education system or the judiciary,but it also responsible for the extremely conservative ideology forwhich the Province has become infamous (Hughes 1991, p91). Theattitude of the Church has certainly been that the primary role ofwomen is that of mothers and housewives and this has been somethingthat has held women back from entering into politics. Issues aroundsexuality, the dissolution of marriage or rights in the home or at workhave seen feminists face opposition from clergy, politicians and as aresult, their communities. Again McWilliams summarises the situationstating, in the face of such traditional Catholi cism and Protestantfundamentalism, it has proved extremely difficult for women to organisearound issues which are of personal and political influence to them(Hughes 1991,p81). Both the Protestant and Catholic Church have maintained a traditionalline on the domestic role of women. They have exhorted mothers to takeresponsibility for their children by looking after them at home andhave largely opposed political initiatives such as the provision of daycare for children as it poses a challenge to the traditional ideologywhich supports the segregated division of labour in the home. The viewof the Church from half a century ago has remained prevalent in modernday Northern Ireland. Bishop McGean had stated in 1945 that the properplace for the baby is in the home and the proper guardian is themother. Nature decided that and God approved of that decision ofnature (Hughes 1991, p89). Womens groups in Northern Ireland have made gradual progress ininstigating political and social change. They have begun to createstructures that enable individual women to have some measure of controlover their lives. One example is found in the work of an umbrellaorganisation known as The Womens Information Day, along withprojects such as Womens Aid, the Womens Education Project and theNorthern Ireland Womens Rights Movement. All of these groups, formedprior to the establishment of the Northern Ireland Womens Coalition,were organised in a non-sectarian way, holding meetings in bothloyalist and nationalist areas and raising controversial issues thatwere sensitive to one anothers beliefs. In 1985, whilst campaigning onchanges to the benefit system, a group of Catholic and Protestant womentravelled to London to lobby their MPs to oppose a propose SocialSecurity Bill and were appalled to find that their own politicalrepresentatives were more interested in opposing the Anglo-Irishagreeme nt (which had been launched on the same day) and refused to meetthem on the grounds that they were too busy. McWilliams writes thatthey returned home to Belfast on the same night more convinced thanever that their political representatives were much less interested inmatters of social and economic concerns (Hughes 1991, p92). One of the most glaring features of life for women in Northern Irelandhas been the hardship of poverty with all its social, financial andpsychological repercussions. Women in Northern Ireland have come at thetop of research tables listing infant mortality rates, unemployment ordependency on social security (Hughes 1991, p92). It is women who haveexperienced poverty as prisoners wives, as widows, as single parents,divorced, separated or unmarried, as managers of unemployed families,as single and elderly women living alone, or as low paid wage earners.As a result, womens groups such as the Northern Ireland Womens RightsMovement began to offer advice and information to women, producingleaflet to help women in the face of overpowering bureaucracy.McWilliams writes of the pressures upon women in Northern Irelandstating existing from day to day in the North can often become anintolerable strain for women. Not only must they provide a reasonablestandard of living for their kids, but they ha ve the additional anxietyof worrying about husbands and children when they are out of the home.The years of the troubles have added to their pressures and manyrespond y using tranquillisers or smoking excessively (Hughes 1991,p93). Women in Northern Ireland have played a leading role in anti-povertycampaigns, a significant political role which tends to be overlooked bymedia, church leaders and politicians. Such groups have remainednon-hierarchical and have refused to let single individuals becomesolely identified with their campaigns. The non-hierarchical structurehas provided the supportive type of environment that women require andeach group has become knowledgeable about the particular issue underscrutiny. Often the women have maintained links after individualcampaigns have been dissolved. Northern Ireland feminists have played apart in various campaigns and community projects over the last fewdecades. Many cut their political teeth in the civil rights movementsof the 1960s and 1970s and had their first dealings with other feministmovements. Female students at Queens University held a public meetingin1975 which formed an action group with the aim of bringing the roleof women in Northern Ireland into line wit h that of their sisters inBritain (Hughes 1991, p93) and went on to form the Northern IrelandWomens Rights Movement which successfully campaigned to bring the SexDiscrimination Act to Northern Ireland. There are of course issues that divide womens groups in NorthernIreland. Many are related to the national question, which as in allareas of politics in the province, remain difficult to overcome.Whether groups are based on single issues such as Womens Aid or theRape and Incest Line, or more generic groups such as the Derry, Belfastor Falls Road Womens Centres, the political affiliations of membersmay be surreptitiously agued in order to clarify the line that theymight take on the national question. The sheer weight of issues aroundthe constitution and security in Northern Ireland make it near onimpossible for the issue to be ignored. Disputes have occurred between,for example, the Relatives Action Committee and Women AgainstImperialism (which largely supports Sinn Fein) and other womens groupssuch as the Belfast Womens Collective and the Northern Ireland WomensRights Movement. The Belfast Womens Collective argued that it wasvital to work in as wide a range as possible, including area s which maynot initially meet with a big response because they challengetraditional political and religious beliefs (Hughes 1991, p95). TheRelatives Action Committee, on the other hand, organising around thewithdrawal of political statues for the H Block prisoners took the viewthat the campaign about prisons should be central. Regardless of divisions within womens movements in Northern Ireland,the fact remains that the there is a level of oppression caused by theunique nature of politics in the province. Many women arepsychologically scarred by the deaths of or injury to loved ones. Manyothers are emotionally burnt out by the years of armed troops presenton the streets. Women on both sides of the sectarian divide have seenthe destruction of family life when family members are arrested underthe Prevention of Terrorism Act and possibly held for long periodswithout trial. Women visiting husbands and son in prison have beensubjected to degrading and humiliating strip searches. They live infear for the lives of their children and have had the constant worrythat they will be caught in crossfire, caught up in a riot or killed byan explosion. On top of all of these factors, women have also had totackle continuing economic exploitation and sexual oppression. Women in Northern Ireland have had to endure an ingrained culture ofconservative sexism that emanates both from the UK and the Republic ofIreland. They have had to fight for equality of opportunity in theworkplace interestingly, the Equal Opportunities Commission, which isknown to play a more active role in womens lives than its GBcounterpart, was almost abolished in Northern Ireland (Hughes 1991,p96). An influential factor in the under representation of women in NorthernIreland politics has been the traditional assumption of gender rolesand values held by many within the province. These powerful politicaland cultural restraints support the theory that the lack of women inpolitics is due to supply rather than demand factors the electoratehas little problem with female candidates, it is getting women intoposition as candidates for public office that is largely the problem. There is general support amongst the Northern Ireland public for womento be involved in politics and indeed this support has grown steadilythroughout the 1990s and the development of the Belfast Agreement. Oneof the key questions included in the 2002 Northern Ireland Life andTimes Survey was did respondents think that the greater number of womenin politics since the formation of the Northern Ireland Assembly makethings better or worse in Northern Ireland politics? Whilst 44 per centof respondents remained neutral on the question, 41 per cent thought ithad made things better, with only 14 per cent thinking it had madethings worse (NI Life and Times Survey 2002). Attitudes towards therole of women in politics shifted markedly from the survey completed adecade earlier. In 1991, only one fifth of men felt that at least onehalf of senior government posts should be held by women. By 2002 thisfigure had doubled to 40 per cent, with support from women rising from38 per cent to 50 per cent (L ife and Times Survey 2002). Research carried out in 1993 sought to use the experience of womencouncillors within Northern Ireland to attempt to gauge exactly why sofew women were involved in politics at the time. In 1989, only 60 ofthe 566 district councillors were women, equating to a mere 10.6 percent (Wilford et al 1993, p341). Following changes after direct rulewas introduced in 1972, many functions of local government had beenreplaced by intermediate bodies appointed by the Secretary of State forNorthern Ireland. This situation reduced the tiers of local governmentwith Wilford et al commenting Thus, aspiring politicians enjoy anextremely limited opportunity to run for elected office (Wilford et al1993, p343). In addition, council meetings throughout the 1980s wouldoften be used by political parties to argue out their constitutionaldifferences rather than focussing on the relevant issues of localpolitics the symbolic value of politics in Northern Ireland helps toexplain the paucity of women. Interviews wit h women councillorsrevealed six main reasons that they believed explained the small numberof women in Northern Ireland politics psychological, familial,organisational, functional, patriarchal and systematic. All have somerelevance. Psychological reasons included a simple lack of self-esteem felt bywomen. The vast majority of women councillors had been prompted orasked to stand for election by other members rather than have theconfidence to stand on their own initiative. It seems exceptional forwomen to deem themselves eligible for candidature, yet this is setagainst a backdrop where with relatively few people willing to standfor election in local politics and being successful would be seeminglyunproblematic. One SDLP councillor commented on the issue: it neveroccurred to me to standwe (women) had the traditional view that wewere the back up for men: making the tea and the like (Wilford et al1993 p344). Familial reasons were most cited reason for non-participation of womenin politics and reaffirm the ideas of traditional cultural valuescontributing to the role of women in Northern Ireland. There is a cleardifferential in the assumed responsibility of men and women for childrearing in Northern Ireland and this impacts strongly on theopportunity for women to enter into public life. At the very least, astrong and supportive partner is needed by women looking to go intopolitics, yet in addition to this it would appear that many women inNorthern Ireland do not simply put family responsibilities firstbecause that is their assumed role many believe that they actuallyshould put their family first and postpone any political aspirationsuntil their children have reached post-school age. It should also benoted that childcare facilities in Northern Ireland were poor duringthe 1980s and 1990s, a further complication for women that wanted toenter into politics. Organisational reasons for women councillors are similar reasonscommonly cited by women MPs in the UK Parliament the unsocial hoursthat politician are required to work. Councillors in Northern Irelandfound that childcare made it difficult for them to attend councilbusiness scheduled during the day. At the time of the survey, Sinn Feinwas the only political party in Northern Ireland that paid thechildcare expenses of its councillors (wilford et al 1993, p344). Patriarchal reasons for the limited involvement of women in localpolitics in Northern Ireland are based around the attitude of malecouncillors towards their female counterparts. One councillorinterviewed stated: Youre a thorn as a female councillor. Men dontwant you there; theyd prefer it to be all male. They want to be thedominant ones in the council; its true everywhere (Wilford et alp344). Mnay of the women councillors interviewed felt that they werenot taken seriously because of their sex and this was a hugedisincentive to continuing to take an active role in politics. Manyreferred to the cultural belief ingrained in Northern Ireland about awomans place and that the arena of politics was very much a mansworld. There is evidence that women were ghettoised into certaincommittees that were less important and more focussed on what weredeemed to be womens issues home safety committees serve as anexample. Again, the partisanship of politics in Northern Ireland has tobe seen as a facto r here some of the issues likely to be raised bywomen in particular, like pre-school places, education and the NHS,have a tendency to take a back seat to constitutional and securityissues. Finally, under the label of patriarchal concerns were genuineconcerns of sexual harassment within the arena of council politics.Some female councillors reported patronising language as well as outand out harassment. Systematic and functional reasons for non-participation are also given.The lack of power held by local government in Northern Ireland prior tothe Belfast Agreement has been a disincentive women are deterred fromsacrificing family life simply due to the fact that there is relativelylittle to do in local politics and little opportunity to instigateeffective change. For the more ambitious women, local government is notseen as a step on the way to better things and many women see the listsof men waiting to become MPs and simply assume that they have littlechance of ever doing so. A final systematic reason for women stayingout of politics is the actual physical risk involved. It is not unheardof for Northern Ireland councillors to be targeted or even murdered byparamilitaries. Much of the research carried out with female councillors supports thetheory that it is indeed supply rather than demand that limits thenumber of women involved in politics in Northern Ireland. With onlythree women MPs being elected between 1972 and 1990 (Wilford et al1993, p345) there is clearly a problem in attracting candidates. In looking at the demand for women in politics, whilst there isevidence that the public has a growing desire to see women involved inpolitics, it is also important to examine the reasons that people inNorthern Ireland think that there are relatively few women involved.The 2002 Life and Times Survey asked for explanations as to why thereare so few women in politics: What is noticeable from this research is that the main factors appearto be based on a conscious choice made by women rather thandiscrimination against them. Women not putting themselves forward ascandidates and putting their families before their political aspirationappear to be more decisive factors than a view that women do not havethe interest in or capability to succeed in politics. Certainly thisattitude has hardened during he 1990s. Whilst in the 1991 survey womensaw the reason for a lack of women as a mixture of barriers andinclination, by 2002 the most important reasons are clearly womens owninclinations and choices. Another important perception is that aroundwhether or not people assume that women candidates lose votes in boththe 1991 and 2002 surveys, only around one third of respondents thoughtthat this was the case. One of the obvious solutions to the fact that there are proportionatelyfew women involved inpolitics in Northern Ireland would be theintroduction of positive discrimination policies by the major parties.Howver, whilst there appears to be a view that women involve themselvesin the political process and be encouraged to do so, there is littleevidence that parties should actually be required to blance theircandidate lists with similar numbers of men and women. When questionedas to whether political parties should be required to put forward aproportion of women candidates, only 19 per cent of respondents agreed 17 per cent of men and 21 per cent of women (Life and Times Survey2002). The more common view was that political parties should beencouraged to put forward a proportion of women candidates 55 percent agreed with this (52 per cent of men and 57 per cent of women).The survey also asked whether the parties should put more resourcestowards the campaign of women candidates than men ca ndidates: this metwith a slightly more positive response with 33 per cent of men and 45per cent of women agreeing that more resources should be assigned towomen candidates. A further indicator that there is sufficient demandfor women politicians came from the questions asking respondents tochoose four attributes they would most like to see in Northern Irelandpoliticians and the attributes that they would then use to describeboth male and female politicians. Clearly, the Northern Ireland see women candidates as most likely tohave the attributes that they see as desirable. Whilst male politiciansare seen largely as aggressive, ruthless and crafty, female politiciansare seen as more likely to be honest, approachable and willing tocompromise. Attitudes in Northern Ireland towards women politician are generallyfavourable. These attitudes have noticeably become more positive since1991 and voters are now looking to parties to present them with morewomen candidates both in the Northern Ireland Assembly and atWestminster. Whilst barriers to women entering politics remain, theyappear to have been diluted over the last 10-15 years and whilst thereis still some discrimination against women in politics this haslessened. Perhaps most importantly of all in terms of attitudes towardswomen in politics, there appears to be a consensus that the qualitiesthat women bring to political life are closer to the qualitiesidentified in an ideal candidate or representative than are of thoseof men in politics. Other research on specific questions about the role of women inpolitics gives a good insight into the attitudes of the NorthernIreland electorate. Surveys On line asked respondents what proportionof senior government posts should be held by women. Male Female % % A majority 2 3 About half 18 35 At least some 47 38 Nodefinite proportion 31 21 None 2 2 This would suggest that theelectorate is generally happy to see women holding some of the mostimportant posts in government. Again, this would suggest that there isno problem in terms of demand for women to be involved in politics inNorthern Ireland. Opinions of the general involvement of women onpolitics give a similar picture. Asked about women being elected to anational assembly, respondents felt that there should be: Again the broad consensus appears to be in favour of women beinginvolved in politics. Research indicates a slight imbalance in thatwomen appear to be more strongly in favour of a greater political role,but men also are broadly in favour of womens involvement The attitudes towards women in politics in Northern Ireland stronglysupport the theory that it is supply rather than demand that restrictsthe role of women in politics across the province. Certainly voters areon the whole not prejudiced against women candidates, and whilsttraditional values may be upheld by a proportion of the population,there is little to suggest that voters in Northern Ireland woulddeliberately turn their backs on female candidates. It would appearthat the demand for women politician is there the difficulty isovercoming traditional values held by women themselves to provide thesupply. Party politics in Northern Ireland and the way in which women relate tothe parties have to be seen in a different light to party politics inthe rest of the United Kingdom. The sway that nationalism and loyalismhave over party politics in Northern Ireland inevitably relegate otherissues to a position of secondary importance. The close relationshipbetween party politics and paramilitarism that has existed for so longhas been advantageous to men whilst detrimental to women. Feminism haslargely taken a backseat to the constitutional goals of politicalparties, with Wilford and Galligan suggesting that feminists inparticular, have discovered that their agendas have been, and are,tolerated only to the extent that they acknowledge the primacy ofmutually exclusive constitutional goals (Galligan et al 1999, p170). Some of the figures on party membership paint a more positive pictureon womens political involvement than do statistics on women appearingas candidates or representatives. Whilst only 1.6 per cent women and2.1 per cent of men in 1996 belonged to a political party, some partiesreported high proportions of women as members. The Democratic Unionists(DUP) and the Alliance Party (APNI) reported that 60 per cent and 50per cent of their members respectively were women, whilst the UlsterUnionist Party (UUP) with 42 per cent, The Social Democratic and LabourParty (SDLP) with 47 per cent and Sinn Fein 47 per cent (Galligan et al1999, p170) also showed healthy membership figures amongst women. It ishowever the roles that woman play within their parties that is theissue. Only the ANLI and the SDLP have been chaired by women and awoman has led none of the major parties. The difficulties faced by women in exerting influence within theirparties are reflected by the feelings of neglect felt by some femaleparty members. One female Ulster Unionist councillor commenting on herpartys commitment to the concerns of women states, policies on womenare virtually non-existent. Of all the parties they are way down thelist. Lip service only is paid to what women do, its pretty well amale preserve, its an uphill battle whilst a Sinn Fein councillorechoed the sentiments stating the issues that affect women are buried.A lot arent dealt with because men think they are womens problems(Galligan et al 1999, p173). A more detailed look at the policies ofindividual parties helps to explain the position of women in politicsacross Northern Ireland as a whole. The UUP has its own womens council (the UWUC) that was established in1911 and provides 155 members for the partys plenary body , the852-member Ulster Unionist Council. This equates to 18 per cent of theplenary body. The partys most important policy making body has beenits executive committee, with 120 members elected by the eighteenparliamentary constituency associations in 1995 this included only 18women (15 per cent). More recently it has established a Womens AffairsCommittee, which consists of eight members notably the committeeremains opposed to any form of positive discrimination to increase thenumbers of women in either party or public office. The partys 1997general election manifesto made a clear commitment to merit selectionof candidates as opposed to the introduction of any positivediscrimination policies. The partys record on policies directedspecifically towards women was patchy during the 1990s. Its PolicyStatement on Womens Issues for the 1992 general election for exam plewas only two pages long (Galligan et al 1999, p174). Manifesto pledgesin relation to women have generally centred on equal opportunities inthe workforce, whilst often referring to opportunities for women thatwill tie in with family responsibilities. On a more positive note, theparty has looked to adopt policies that, whilst not aiding women whowish to enter into politics, allow women to more easily utilise theirtalents in the wider community. Family friendly practices by employersare encouraged, along with the introduction of flexible workingpatterns and better provision of nursery care at the workplace. Theparty and in particular its Womens Affairs Committee have also takensteps to address the concerns of older women supporting improvementsin the quality old life for older women through more accessible localservices. The UUP appears to be slowly accepting a change in gender roles whilststill clinging onto the belief that a womans natural place is in thehome. The UUP blends aspects of gender reinforcement with both genderrecognition and gender neutrality, even managing to insert a certainawareness of the need to reconstruct gender roles is the conclusion ofWilford and Gilligan (Gilligan et al 1999, p175) and indeed thissummarises the somewhat confused position of the UUP it realises thatwomen are playing a more prominent role in society, but as yet it isunwilling to allow them access to political influence. The DUP tends to takes more conservative stance in relation to womensissues than the UUP. It has remained opposed to any ideas of positivediscrimination and has had few women as part of the party leadership.Its manifestos in general election prior to the Belfast Agreement paidlittle attention to womens issues the 1992 manifesto contained abrief section on women, whilst the 1997 version ignored them completelyand devoted itself to constitutional matters. Policy commitments havealso been rather vague. The party supports state-subsidised crchefacilities in the workplace and flexible working arrangements forworking mothers, yet has constructed these proposals around theseemingly reluctant proposition that women find themselves in theposition of having to go to work rather than choosing to do so. Thereare further hints of gender reinforcement in other areas of DUP policy.Seeing women as either or victims or potential victims there arepolicies around increased funding for shelters for bat tered wives,fighting pornography and increasing sentences for rapists. The partyhas called for the appointment of more women to the judiciary on thegrounds that they could bring to their job an extra dimension ofsensitivity and understanding (Galligan et al 1999, p176). The overallimpression of DUP policy on women is that it sees itself as a maledominated party with a duty to protect women. It has done relativelylittle to actively promote womens entry into politics. The Ulster Democratic Party (UDP), the political wing of theparamilitary Ulster Defence Association has long had a party hierarchydominated by males, yet in some of its policies shows more of anawareness and willingness to address issues than other major parties inNorthern Ireland. Like the DUP, it has supported the provision ofworkplace nurseries and the introduction of flexible working patternsfor women, whether married or single. It also supports equal employmentopportunities for single mothers, equal pay for equal work and equalrights and benefits for both full time and part time workers. The UDPhas also been supportive of increased training and educationalopportunities for women whilst opposing reductions in social securitypayments to single mothers. It has also supported the availability offree comprehensive family planning facilities and has supported aspectsof the 1967 Abortion Act. Certainly amongst its loyalist rivals, theUDP stands out as the party most in tune with gender recognition andmoves away from gender stereotyping in it policies. Its has yet tointroduce preferential treatment for women in selection of candidatesfor election, but its more open-minded policies suggest that it is aparty in which women could eventually flourish. The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) on the other hand has includedrhetoric in its recent manifestos calling for the inclusion of women inpolitics. Its 1997 manifesto stated that women have a role to play atall levels of political activity and encouraged women to putthemselves forward as party delegates, officers and electioncandidates. Whether the party is genuinely serious about this however,remains in doubt. The same manifesto, whilst dealing comprehensivelywith constitutional and security issues, included few details onwomens issues and the male dominated leadership suggests that its callfor women to be involved may have been cosmetic rather than a genuineappeal. The Alliance Party has had more success integrating women into theparty hierarchy. Its organisational structure is based on twenty-threelocal associations by the late 1990s, six of them were chaired bywomen (Galligan et al 1999, p176). Whilst by no means an equal split,the Alliance Party has at least moved a proportion of women intoinfluential party roles. Of the 23 associations, ten had women assecretaries and a further ten as treasurers. Its manifestos have givensupport to the representation of women. Whilst its 1997 manifestoincluded only half a page on womens issues it did commit to supportfor equality of opportunity for women and so supporting EU directiveson social and economic equality for women. The Alliance Party has alsoacknowledged that womens issues are ignored because they are notrepresented in the places where they can argue for them (Galligan etal 199, p177), again a position that supports the supply rather thandemand theory in relation to women in politics in Norther n Ireland. Nationalist parties Sinn Fein and the SDLP appear to how more of acommitment to ensuring that women play an active role with partystructures. Sinn Fein had from the early 1990s adopted gender basedpositive discrimination policies that guaranteed a 40 per cent quota ofwomen on its national executive. The SDLP followed suit in 1995following a motion passed at its 1994 conference calling for aprogramme of affirmative action to ensure that half of the posts withinthe party were filled by women. The actual outcome within the SDLP wasthat 40 per cent of positions on the national executive were to be heldby women as well as two places on its General Council which hadresponsibility for developing and overseeing the implementation of newpolicies (Galligan et al 1999, p172). Both parties have furthersupported their positive discrimination policies with otherinitiatives. Both deliver training and development courses that aretargeted at encouraging women to make themselves available for bothpart y and public office positions. Such policies are quite radical inthe context of Northern Ireland, certainly in comparison to theattitudes of the other main parties. It should be noted, that evenamongst the supporters of Sin Fein and the SDLP, there is notwidespread support for positive discrimination .As Wilford and Galliganconclude Not only do employment and promotion quotas for women findonly minority support within both the general population and amongstparty identifiers but public opinion in Northern Ireland also regardssex discrimination as less of a problem than that base on religion,disability and age (Galligan et al 1999, p172). SDLP manifestos and party documents have been broadly supportive ofwomens rights. Its 1997 manifesto included a section dedicated toreal equality and partnership in relation to women and its has shownsupport for the implementation of a minimum wage, the adoption of theSocial Charter, the provision of universally available childcare andpositive discrimination tailored at promoting opportunity for women inthe employment market. The party also lent its support for a review oflegislation on equal pay and discrimination and called for newlegislation on sex offences in addition to supporting theimplementation of the strategic objectives on womens health agreed atthe 1995 UN world conference on women held in Beijing. A party documententitled Half the Future also specifically addressed the issue ofwomens representation, suggesting that the involvement of women inpolitics was beneficial to the overall balance of party policy. Againsupporting the idea of positive discrimination, the document a rguesthat the lack of involvement of women in public office led to theomission of their priorities and world view from the processes oflegislation and administration (Wilford et al 1999, p178) and proposedthe creation of a minister for equality who would in particularencouragement pro-active gender-equality policies in the employmentsector. Sinn Fein has been the party that has spoken out most openly on womensissues. Its 1997 manifesto included the statement Women in Irelandsuffer from systematic and institutionalised sexual discrimination(Gilligan et al 1999,p179) and stated its aim to achieve equality ofcitizenship for women. However, in what can be as interpreted as awatering down of its rhetoric, Sinn Fein has committed itself topositive discrimination as under the 1989 Fair Employment Act whichsanctions the applications of goals and timetables, rather than actualquotas in relation to women seeking employment. Within the workplaceSinn Fein calls for equal pay for work of equal value and for reformsof the education system to combat sexism and gender stereotyping. Incommon with the SDLP it has called for the legal extension for thedefinition of rape and for the development of a more multifacetedapproach to eradicate violent crimes against women. Sinn Fein has alsosupported statutory funding for rape crisis centres and improvedtraining for legal and medical personnel on the effects of rape. Interms of womens health it has called for more resources to be madeavailable for preventative medicine and for better provision of healthcare for pregnant women. Finally, Sinn Fein has sanctioned directpositive discrimination in relation to funding for womensorganisations and women-only community based courses. The Northern Ireland Womens Coalition (NIWC) was formed in 1996following the announcement by the British and Irish governments thatmulti-party talks were to commence on the future of Northern Ireland.Organisers of the NIWC saw the potential for the talks as massivelysignificant but have written that an active sense of being excludedfrom the future was being felt by many Northern Irish women (Fearon1999, p2). Undoubtedly, many women felt that the negotiations would bealmost exclusively male and feared for their future representationunder whatever agreement was reached. As Fearon writes NorthernIreland does not have a good track record in electing women (Fearon1999, p3). One major issue for the NIWC to overcome was the fact that the womensmovement within Northern Ireland had remained divided along sectarianlines. There had been rare examples of unity, for example bothcommunities cooperating in 1985 to lobby against a Social SecurityBill, but generally division had been a factor that had limited theeffectiveness of womens movements across Northern Ireland. Politicalinvolvement with one of the major parties had offered little for womenin terms of progressing womens issues. Fearon accurately summarisesthe situation prior to the formation of the NIWC stating moreover by1996,a significant number of women in Northern Ireland had come to feelthat to join one of the traditional nationalist or unionist parties wasto sell your soul (Fearon 1999, p12). The NIWC appealed to the electorate in Northern Ireland on the groundsthat, by electing women, voters can move away from sectarian basedpolitics and achieve the required changes to bring about politicalaccommodation and build a peaceful society. It moved away from thetraditional fixed positions of the constitution held by the establishedpolitical parties and, buoyed by the support of the electorate for anincrease in the numerical representation of women has campaigned on theplatform that women can make a difference. Its manifestos have includedsome women specific policies, yet the main aim of the coalition hasbeen to increase the number of women engage in politics. Whether theNIWC can ever establish itself as a genuine political force remains tobe seen. It has played a part at then negotiating table during talks onthe Belfast Agreement, yet whilst the electorate maybe disaffected withthe established parties and keen to se more women in politics, whenelections come around it is still difficult for Northern Ireland votersto move away from trenched constitutional and security positions.Nonetheless, the NIWC has been a positive force in establishing womenat the heart of politics in Northern Ireland. It is difficult to draw broad conclusions as to the overall attitudesof the political parties in Northern Ireland on the inclusion of women,such is the wide scope of positions that they hold. There have been,and remain, several obstacles in the way of equality of opportunity forwomen and the parties have used different approaches to tackle them.There has been a general consensus that there must be more equality ofopportunity for women, but the parties have differed in how this shouldbe done and no as of yet have adopted full endorsement of positivediscrimination in both the spheres of employment and politicalopportunity. The major unionist parties in particular still tend tofocus more on the domestic and familial roles of women, with Wilfordand Gilligan surmising that there may, in effect, be an ideologicallink here between their conservatism on the issue of the union andtheir attitudes towards women (Gilligan et al 1999, p181). Somewhat incontrast, the more social democratic, even s ocialist views of the likesof the SDLP and Sinn Fein create to opportunity for a greater pursuitof equality of opportunity for women. The general conclusion that canbe made is that there is a differential between what can be seen as thenominal right wing and left wing parties in Northern Ireland. The moretraditional parties such as the UUP and DUP provide what Wilford andGilligan term clear evidence for the perpetuation of traditionalgender roles within their organisations and in terms of public policy.Each shares the experience of constructing or defending a primarilynational identity, which implies the subordination of womens concernsto the overarching demands of shaping perceptions of the nation(Gilligan at al 1999, p182). Sinn Fein and the SLP on the other handappear more open to the idea of quotas and positives discrimination toensure the inclusion of women in politics in Northern Ireland. Groupssuch as the NIWC appear to provide a more positive platform for womensparticipation in politics, yet its failure to support polices ofpositive discrimination reflect the public view that whilst more womenin politics is desirable, the issue should not be forced. As Wilfordand Galligan conclude on the issue of political parties and theirattitudes towards women its difficulty is, of course, that thearticulation of gender and communal inclusiveness in a deeply dividedsociety is drowned out by the clamour of competing nationalisms(Galligan et al 1999 p182). The Belfast Agreement was quite explicit in its call for the inclusionof all within the political process in Northern Ireland. It specifiedin its section on rights, safeguards and equality of opportunity thatNorthern Ireland should offer the right to equal opportunity in allsocial and economic activity, regardless of class, creed, disability,gender or ethnicity. Election results since the Agreement was reachedhave shown at least some positive signs. Women have been elected againas MPs to represent Northern Ireland constituencies and very graduallywomen are beginning to be include in the leadership of the majorparties. Nonetheless, woken remain proportionally under-representedacross Northern Ireland. The reasons for this are diverse. Northern Ireland has clung on totraditional values as to the role of women both before and after theBelfast Agreement. The perception remains that the womans place is inthe home and this plays a large part in the under-representation ofwomen the fact is that many women themselves continue to take thisview and put any political aspirations as secondary to their familialrole the supply of women into politics remains hampered by thisfactor. The political parties also play a large parting maintained theunder-representation of women. Whilst womens groups are able todevelop prominent roles within their communities, party structuresremain male-dominated. Until affirmative action policies in terms ofselecting candidates are adopted, women will remain in the minority inthe political arena. Women in democratic regimes across the world have been largelyunder-represented. Womens groups can be formed to campaign or lobby onparticular issues or indeed simply to further their own role, but as inNorthern Ireland, real proof of genuine political influence can onlyreally come through a much larger representation of women withinlegislative bodies and within the hierarchy of political parties. Women have been consistently involved in politics in Northern Ireland,but largely in community-based projects or on the periphery of the realdecision-making processes. Women who have played an active role at theheart of Northern Irelands political arena are few and far between.The sectarian and paramilitary aspect to politics in Northern Irelandhas obviously disadvantaged women. Councillors interviewed speak ofgenuine fears of political involvement alum with frustration at thefutility of politics in an arena so dominated by longstandingconstitutional and security issues. Certainly, there is a unique aspectto politics in Northern Ireland that appears to make the possibility ofwomen having significant influence even more difficult than it is inother democracies. The issue of supply and demand is often discussed in relation to theinvolvement of women in politics in Northern Ireland. The traditionalviews seen to be held my many of the population would at first glanceappear to suggest that there is little demand for women at the heart ofpolitics and that this is a determining factor. The actual evidencesuggests otherwise. Voters in Northern Ireland are actually quite keento see women involved in politics. Voters both male and female have ageneral perception that women in politics will be a positive force andwill instigate change for the better. Where voters draw the linehowever, is on the issue of positive discrimination. The people ofNorthern Ireland would like to see more women involved in politics, butdo not support affirmative action as a way to secure this. As a result, the organisation of the major political parties remains amajor stumbling block to a Northern Ireland in which women and men arenumerically balanced. Some of the parties remain inherently exist they may have policies for women but these are largely based aroundhelping women to uphold what is seen as their traditional role athome raising a family. Certainly within the more conservative partiesthere is little in the way of encouragement for women to put themselvesforward as candidates either for election for public office or forinfluential roles within the party. Within what would be termed as themore progressive parties, there is a greater acknowledgment of genderrecognition and the fact that womens issues are important, but still,the balance of power remains very much with men. The likes of Sinn Feinand the SDLP place a greater influence on womens issues and indeedtheir rhetoric indicate a desire to see more women involved in thehigher echelons of politics. Proof that th e rhetoric can be translatedinto action however remains to be seen. These parties have taken stepsto increase the number of women candidates and women within theleadership, but it would seem that only policies of positivediscrimination will actually establish an equal spit along genderlines. Northern Ireland, in spite of the progress made through the BelfastAgreement remains a fairly traditional and conservative part of theworld. Outright sexism maybe diminishing but there remains anundercurrent of opinion that politics is a mans world. It will be along and difficult process to change this perception. Nonetheless, theattitudes of many within Northern Ireland do give hope for women inNorthern Ireland that either have political aspirations of their own orsimply wish to see more women representing them. There is a demand forwomen to be involved in politics in Northern Ireland. There is a demandfor women to take up roles in the decision and policy making apparatusof the major political parties and there is a demand for women asrepresentatives both within the Northern Ireland Assembly and atWestminster. What needs to happen is for the political parties andwomen in Northern Ireland to find a way to actually supply women tomeet the demand. The most obvious way is through polici es of positivediscrimination but there are other options. Women councillors havegiven a number of reasons as to why they feel there are few womeninvolved in politics. Somehow, these barriers have to be overcome.Women need to overcome the traditional culture within Northern Irelandand develop a stronger inclination to become involved in politics. Thepath to equal representation of men and women may be difficult, but ifwomens voices are truly to be heard within the province, there has tobe a concerted effort by Northern Irelands women to push themselvesforward to the forefront of the political arena and overcome theestablished barriers. Fearon Kate, The Story of the Northern Ireland Womens Congress, Blackstaff Press, Belfast 1999 Galligan Y, Ward E Wilford R, Contesting Politics in Northern Ireland North and South, Westview Press 1999 Hughes E (ed) Culture and Politics in Northern Ireland, Open University Press, Buckingam 1993 Leonard D Morytimore R, Elections in Britain a voters guide, Palgrave Press,Basingstoke 2002 Norris Pippa, Britain Votes 2001, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2002 Northern Ireland Life and Time Survey 2002 Wilford R, Miller R, Bell Y Donaghue F, In Their Own Voices:Women Councillors inNorthern Ireland, Public Administration vol 73 1993
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