Emer O'Neill and Caroline Casey among speakers at Irish Examiner International Women's Day event

 Emer O'Neill is a teacher, author, TV presenter and Black Lives Matter advocate.

The Irish Examiner will mark International Women’s Day 2022 with a special live event on Tuesday, March 8.

This year, the theme of the event is Breaking the Bias. It invites everyone to imagine a gender-equal world, free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.

Panelists at the Irish Examiner's event will include environmental scientist, policy advisor and science communicator Dr Tara Shine, and teacher, author, TV presenter and Black Lives Matter advocate Emer O'Neill.

Dr Tara Shine will be  panellist at the Irish Examiner's IWD event 2022. 

We will also be joined by our new Weekend magazine columnist, author and journalist Edel Coffey whose best-selling debut novel, Breaking Point, puts the life of working mothers under a microscope. The keynote speaker is award-winning social entrepreneur and visionary activist Caroline Casey.

The Irish Examiner International Women's Day Breakfast will be hosted by the publication’s Life/Style Editor, Esther McCarthy, who will be joined by a host of inspirational and talented women who are working to achieve parity in their own arenas, including in climate change, publishing, motherhood, education or the corporate world.

Ms McCarthy says the whole organisation is looking forward to being part of the gender equality conversation on Tuesday.

 Journalist Edel Coffey will join the live event to mark International Women’s Day 2022.

“Our first live event for IWD was in 2020 when we came together to talk about the theme of Each for Equal. Even though we didn’t know it, for many of us in the room that day, it would be the last collective, in-person gathering we would attend for almost two years.

“We didn’t let lockdown stop us in 2021 and we streamed a live event for the Choose to Challenge theme, when our writers shared their stories with us, and we were all incredibly inspired by our special guest, Vicky Phelan.” 

This year’s theme resonates with Ms McCarthy, who says she can’t wait to hear what the panellists will have to say about breaking the different biases we face.

“From the crippling guilt that can come with being a mother, to the idea that we can all be climate activists, to tackling the lack of diversity in positions of leadership, by coming together and throwing some light on these issues, we hope to come away empowered and with more of an insight into how we can individually, and collectively, start breaking the biases we see every day,” she said.

“It’s also really exciting to be in a shared space together, to celebrate that spark of creativity that happens when a group of passionate people come together,” she added.

Ms McCarthy continued: “Gloria Steinem, world-renowned feminist, journalist and activist said it best: ‘The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organisation but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights’, and at the Irish Examiner, we really nourish the concept of men as allies in this movement too."

A video of the event, which will take place at The River Lee Hotel from 9:30 am to 11:30am on Tuesday, will be available afterwards on irishexaminer.com.