Reporting the EU was the title of the Institute of International and European Affair’s (IIEA) latest webinar.
Europe correspondent for Euronews Shona Murray and political reporter for RTÉ Mary Regan were the two panelists.
As two successful journalists reporting in Ireland and Europe, they gave the audience lots of insights into women in politics nationally and abroad, and the impact this has.
‘A women’s issue’
When it comes to topics such as abortion or gender-related issues, Shona highlighted how personal experience and being able to relate to an issue is the biggest driver for change.
Women who have come through the ranks of politics will have inevitably experienced sexism and found it difficult at some point
She said: “If you look at what’s happening in Poland, with relation to the abortion legislation; the legislation is completely rolled back there when it comes to women’s rights.
“Naturally, this is a women’s issue and obviously if you are in a position of power, you’re conscious of it, maybe if you had a baby or you’ve had an abortion.
“Women who have come through the ranks of politics will have inevitably experienced sexism and found it difficult at some point.
“And it was probably something along the way that they felt that they needed to change.”
representation matters
Mary talked about seeing female representation in European politics and the impact that this image has.
“I think it was really great to see just a couple of weeks ago at the European Parliament, at the last sitting they had in Strasbourg – Ursula von der Leyen, Roberta Metsola and Christine Lagarde – the three of them were there discussing the euro and inflation.
“They were the three big figureheads in the parliament. If nothing else – if the policies aren’t even there – that in itself is a really important image,” she said.
At the moment there is far greater female representation in the Seanad and it’s really coming across in terms of the policies that the Seanad is putting across
Mary also brought it closer to home, to Ireland, where she discussed how the female representation in the Seanad has brought attention to important women’s issues.
She said: “In terms of policies, we could look at the difference between the Dáil and the Seanad. At the moment there is far greater female representation in the Seanad and it’s really coming across in terms of the policies that the Seanad is putting across.
“They just had motions recently on reproductive leave and on funding paid IVF treatment coming out of the Seanad, which didn’t get pursued in the Dáil. And then they’re feeding into the Dáil discussions.
“I think for that reason, the greater participation of women, the better.”
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Reporting the EU was the title of the Institute of International and European Affair’s (IIEA) latest webinar.
Europe correspondent for Euronews Shona Murray and political reporter for RTÉ Mary Regan were the two panelists.
As two successful journalists reporting in Ireland and Europe, they gave the audience lots of insights into women in politics nationally and abroad, and the impact this has.
‘A women’s issue’
When it comes to topics such as abortion or gender-related issues, Shona highlighted how personal experience and being able to relate to an issue is the biggest driver for change.
Women who have come through the ranks of politics will have inevitably experienced sexism and found it difficult at some point
She said: “If you look at what’s happening in Poland, with relation to the abortion legislation; the legislation is completely rolled back there when it comes to women’s rights.
“Naturally, this is a women’s issue and obviously if you are in a position of power, you’re conscious of it, maybe if you had a baby or you’ve had an abortion.
“Women who have come through the ranks of politics will have inevitably experienced sexism and found it difficult at some point.
“And it was probably something along the way that they felt that they needed to change.”
representation matters
Mary talked about seeing female representation in European politics and the impact that this image has.
“I think it was really great to see just a couple of weeks ago at the European Parliament, at the last sitting they had in Strasbourg – Ursula von der Leyen, Roberta Metsola and Christine Lagarde – the three of them were there discussing the euro and inflation.
“They were the three big figureheads in the parliament. If nothing else – if the policies aren’t even there – that in itself is a really important image,” she said.
At the moment there is far greater female representation in the Seanad and it’s really coming across in terms of the policies that the Seanad is putting across
Mary also brought it closer to home, to Ireland, where she discussed how the female representation in the Seanad has brought attention to important women’s issues.
She said: “In terms of policies, we could look at the difference between the Dáil and the Seanad. At the moment there is far greater female representation in the Seanad and it’s really coming across in terms of the policies that the Seanad is putting across.
“They just had motions recently on reproductive leave and on funding paid IVF treatment coming out of the Seanad, which didn’t get pursued in the Dáil. And then they’re feeding into the Dáil discussions.
“I think for that reason, the greater participation of women, the better.”
Read more
More women need to be encouraged to become engineers, says Engineers Ireland
A stylish sister act for spring/summer from Nicola and Caroline Kilkenny
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