Macra’s Rural Youth theme for May is all about women, looking out for and looking after young women across Ireland.

We took four main issues and have divided them across May.

The first is an awareness campaign on our social media platforms about ending period poverty.

This is a topical issue, and we are happy to promote the retailers giving free period products to consumers, as well as the charities who take in period wear supplies for homeless shelters and women’s shelters.

We are delighted to have Lucy Lambe of The Green Sheep coffee shop in Thurles on board to help us share the message of donating supplies and ending period poverty.

With the evenings getting longer and more people out and about walking, we also decided to create three podcasts for May.

Our first one will be released the second week of May where Cara O’Mahony will interview Dr Mary O’Callaghan, a GP, on all things female health related.

Topics such as periods, contraceptive options, cervical smears and breast checks will all be discussed. We’re asking the questions that other women may not have the confidence to ask.

Our second podcast will be about empowering women and female visibility in male-dominated sports and careers. Sarah Kelly will interview Leinster and Irish rugby star Niamh Ní Dhroma about the visibility of women’s sports, as well as her own career as an Irish army captain.

This podcast will tie in with our focus on domestic abuse and instilling confidence in women.

Our final podcast will be focused on women’s fitness, and more importantly, how to get the most out of your fitness and training in accordance with your menstrual cycles.

Helen Hayes will be speaking to Amy McGuire, lecturer in Sports, Nutrition and Physiology at LIT.

Helen will also be asking Amy about nutrition and how to get the most out of your food when playing sport.

We wanted to cover all angles in relation to women this month and we hope our female members to feel empowered and educated in listening to our podcasts that cover such a diverse range of topics.

We will also have a range of web links, posters and information in relation to each topic across Macra’s social media platforms.

You can listen to our podcasts at macra.ie/podcast.