Trinity provost Dr Linda Doyle hits out at Donald Trump and disinformation
Dr Linda Doyle: We're in a moment at a time where actually we have to just really hold on to our values and not slide backwards. Picture: Larry Cummins
The provost of Trinity College Dublin has criticised the US government and called on international media to report Donald Trump's falsehoods as such.
Dr Linda Doyle was speaking at the Irish Examiner’s International Women’s Day breakfast event at Léa’s at the Glucksman in UCC and described the challenges facing women as a result of the US President’s policies.
“There would be times when you wonder, should we have an International Women's Day? Do we need it? And I think we do need it more than ever, and it is absolutely to do with the fact what's happening in the US. I think none of that can be taken lightly,” she said.
Dr Doyle spoke about Trump banning the word ‘disinformation’ and highlighted the role the media can play in reporting his false claims.
“There is now an executive order banning the use of the word ‘disinformation’ in government circles in the US. To me, there's a breadth stopping us from moving forward as well as a depth. I think we're in a moment at a time where actually we have to just really hold on to our values and not slide backwards,” she said.
“It’s especially important in the media because the media has a huge responsibility. For example, I do not accept headlines like ‘Trump said that Ukraine started the war’. That should be ‘Trump falsely said Ukraine started the war’. I think it is really, really important that that attention to detail is paid.
The event, which was in association with PepsiCo, also heard from panellists Hilary Rose, Louise Crowley and Amina Baig, who spoke to emcee Life/Style Editor Esther McCarthy about challenges they have faced in their areas of work and education.
Actor and podcaster, Rose, who stars in The Young Offenders, spoke about the lack of roles for women in acting and how she worked to create her own role and has seen the industry becoming more gender inclusive. She also described some supports she would like to see for women in the acting industry, such as on-set green rooms for their families. “Simple things like that could make a massive difference.”
Baig, a second-year computer science student at UCC and a PepsiCo mentee, described the struggles she faced with undiagnosed ADHD and subsequent depression when she was studying for her Leaving Cert. She called for student support in that area, highlighting how she struggled with memory loss while studying for those exams. “There’s no accommodation for that. Definitely there needs to be a change in the education system. That’s a big fight,” she said.
A professor in UCC’s School of Law, Crowley detailed her efforts to educate people about gender-based violence and sexual harassment. She told the audience about using one of the ‘four Ds’ when they see women in uncomfortable or dangerous situations: “Direct, distract, delay, delegate.” She called on men to become more aware of how women may feel in some situations. “Particularly for men, it’s the awareness, having your eyes open. What you might think is grand could be dangerous for a woman and knowing what to do.”
PepsiCo’s Brian Colgan, site director at their Little Island plant and co-chair of their Women’s Inclusion Network spoke about being an ally and an advocate for women in the workplace.
“Equity is not about giving women a head start—it’s about removing the hurdles that shouldn’t have been there in the first place. It’s about recognizing that while the starting line might look the same, the race has been anything but fair,” he said.
“We don’t need to ask, ‘How do we empower women?’ Women already have power. The real question is: ‘How do we stop getting in their way?’”.
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