The emergence of the women's movement in Ireland as elsewhere was
associated with second wave feminism and the wider civil rights
movement of the late 1960s. However, in Northern Ireland it was
affected by, and itself impacted on, broader movements for social
justice in the region. While disagreement about methods and
principles was not uncommon amongst women activists, the ongoing
political and military struggle heightened existing differences and
injected a sense of urgency and emotion into all proceedings. In
this paper I propose to explore the relationships between a range of
women activists and organisations operating in Northern Ireland
during the seventies, with two major aims. Firstly, to consider the
extent to which both the contemporary and historical focus on `the
Troubles' has served to undermine the actions and achievements of
women engaged in more specifically `feminist' actions. Secondly,
while the experiences of nationalist women have been to the fore of
feminist historical research, I would like to examine and assess the
contributions made by Protestant women, to challenge the perception
that they were largely absent from this stage of the feminist debate,
and to explore the reasons for their lack of visibility.
While all left-wing groups are vulnerable to fragmentation, the
experiences of women in Northern Ireland during this period is a
particularly difficult and emotive reminder of the multiple
identities and conflicting loyalties held by women everywhere.
This research is part of a wider study of women in twentieth century
Ireland, and in addition to a range of archival material, will be
based on interviews with leading players in the feminist and wider
women's movement.
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