Dearbhail McDonald: Women were key to peace — and will continue to be pivotal 

Female contributors, from politicians to civic society leaders, cannot be overlooked any longer, says Dearbhail McDonald

Then secretary of state for Northern Ireland Mo Mowlam arriving for the final day of the peace talks in Stormont Castle on April 9, 1998. Talks were due to finish by midnight but continued on to the next day, Good Friday afternoon, when a deal was finally reached. File picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

History is littered with women ignored by men, especially in the case of conflicts and the peace processes that follow them.

The island of Ireland is no exception, with the critical achievements of many of the heroines of the Good Friday Agreement overlooked or subdued in favour of the largely, but not exclusively, male cohort of leaders credited with its conception and delivery.

A series of long overdue corrections has, mercifully, been underway for some time.

Next week, the record will be corrected further when former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, now chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast, honours 25 women who made a “significant contribution” to peace in the North and around the world.

The Chancellor’s Medal for Civic Leadership, bestowed as part of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, will recognise “those who sat at the negotiating table, who broke glass ceilings, who supported the community and who made sacrifices for peace”.

Posthumous recipients include the peerless Mo Mowlam, May Blood, and murdered journalist Lyra McKee, with an honorary doctorate conferred on the late Pat Hume for her services to the community.

Honoured, too, are Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition co-founder Monica McWilliams, former first minister Arlene Foster, Eileen Paisley, and Nuala O’Loan, former tánaiste Mary Harney, as well as former presidents Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese.

At key moments throughout the Troubles, women played a key role in the prevention and cessation of violence, in the rallying of civic society, as well as in the mediation, and maintenance, of peace.

Fast forward 25 years from the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, and we are once again at risk of ignoring the ongoing adverse effects of post-conflict societal challenges on women and girls in the North.

We are also at risk, once again, of overlooking the critical role they are playing in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, including keeping a lid on community tensions.

They keep on keeping on.

They do so despite the latest Stormont collapse, which is aggravating the cost-of-living crisis.

They do so despite the ongoing struggle for full equality, with our sisters in the North denied rights and protections, including reproductive rights, afforded to women and girls in Britain and Ireland.

They do so by transcending lowest common denominator politics and tribal cultural wars, identifying common differences across boundaries, as the amazing cross-community work of the Shankill and Falls women’s centres, among others, attest.

They do so, despite having the ground cut under their feet with relentless budgetary cuts and the devastating failure of the British government to fully replace vital funding from the EU’s European Social Fund.

And they do so, and we do not talk about this enough, despite the scourge of internal gatekeeping and censorship wielded by paramilitaries who police the conduct and censor the voices of women, unionist and nationalist alike, advocating for their communities or daring to offer an alternative narrative.

And yet, for me, there are glimmers of hope, not least because women are the pragmatic gender who prize practical solutions over sentimentality and passion.

Like many, I am an avid follower of the various surveys and opinion polls in the North that capture the views of, and often challenge established myths about, those who live in the North.

This includes this week’s report by researchers at Queen’s which found that most voters in the North (69%) believe that the Windsor framework could bring economic benefits for the region.

It is true that a not insignificant minority do not, but what really stood out for me was the gender breakdown in this and other surveys which are tracking major issues in the North such as the economy, equality, identity, and unity.

Two-thirds of respondents (66%) said they believe that, with the Windsor framework agreed, the Northern Ireland Executive should be re-established.

However, this view is particularly prevalent among women — 72% of women, compared to 60% of men.

Pragmatism by women

This trend towards pragmatism by women in the North has accelerated since the suspension of the institutions and it has become more activated among the population generally since the last election which saw a surge in support for the Alliance Party led by Naomi Long.

Brexit, the protocol, and the Windsor framework have, inevitably, revived the unionist/nationalist divide.

However, not only do large sections of the North describe themselves as neither unionist nor nationalist, according to the long-established Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, but women are more likely than men to describe themselves in this neutral fashion.

One has to wonder, hope even, that the women of the North may once again rally to help to break the institutional impasse and perhaps deliver a resounding rebuke to that tribal stasis in future elections.

Women were pivotal to the Good Friday Agreement — they may yet be our best chance of honouring its potential in the next 25 years.

• Dearbhail McDonald is an author and broadcaster