Changing signage won't alter lived reality of why women go to toilets in groups

The School Design Guide for Sanitary Facilities has proposed a move away from single-sex facilities to unisex facilities to minimise the risk of bullying

Girls will still go to the toilet in groups because changing the signage won’t have changed their lived reality — that they get to escape for five minutes in the girls’ toilets before they re-enter the fray of a culture that is violently misogynistic. Picture: PA

On any busy night in any busy pub in Ireland (remember them!?) there was one question that you can be sure was asked: Why do the women go to the toilets in pairs? 

This question was generally asked in derision, with a knowing wink — and always rhetorical. A voracious curiosity regarding this behaviour to do with the women’s loos, followed by an entirely contradictory display of disinterest.