Telling the story of women's involvement
``The role and contribution of women as a political force needs to be analysed and honoured. This is the Women's History Project, and this meeting, titled ``The Story of Women's involvement'' is a part of this project.'' Anne Speed was introducing a public meeting last Thursday in Dublin.
Patricia Moore, an ex prisoner from Derry, spoke of the formation of the Relatives Action Committees, which had played so important a part in the development of the struggle and the political changes which the Blanket protest in the H-blocks and Armagh brought about. The RACs had actively involved mothers and sisters and thus taken the struggle to the very heart of communities, she said.
Noreen Byrne, who was chair of the H-Block Armagh Committee in Dublin and later went on to head the Council for the Status of Women, spoke of the engagement of women in the prison struggles through the campaign against strip searching, through involvement in the H-Block/Armagh campaign on the streets of Dublin.
She also addressed the relationship between the women's movement of the time and the republican struggle. She recalled the times of the Fine Gael/Labour Party coalition, of Conor Cruise O'Brien, times which were, in the words of Connolly, a ÔCarnival of Reaction'.
Martina Anderson, who spent 13 years in jail, most of them in England, and now works for Sinn Féin's Assembly team, received a standing ovation from the audience after she spoke powerfully of developments within the republican struggle and the need to document women's involvement.
``While it is true that women were the backbone of the Ô81 protest movement, women were also actively involved in a military campaign,'' said Anderson. ``There are also those women who have been actively involved and who successfully escaped capture. Their contribution to the struggle needs to be recognised and recorded.
``Women's experience of the war and prison life contributed to challenging perceptions of us in Irish society. The construction of women as being less equal is a product of capitalism, depicting us as purely maternal figures whose role is in the home. Our movement has suffered from this depiction. While many in the leadership acknowledge our role and treat us as equals, we do not see equality of treatment when it comes to, for example, documenting the story of women in our struggle. It is the revolutionary responsibility of everyone in the movement to address all aspects of gender inequality.''
Addressing the peace process, she said: ``While most of my involvement has been of a military kind, throughout our struggle I have been prepared to look at all opportunities and to go down whatever road would bring us closer to achieving our objective.
``Since the IRA cessation, Sinn Féin's enhanced involvement in the political arena has had the effect of destabilising British rule and Unionist domination. If our involvement in Stormont enables our leadership and each of us to have a more informed judgement about British intentions which enables us to advance our strategy, all republicans have a responsibility to pursue this path.
``The Good Friday Agreement did not denote the end of the struggle, but rather it provided further opportunities to build strength and to bring to fruition the objectives of the conflict. We must all view this period for what it is, a peace process with negotiations taking place sometimes on a daily if not hourly basis. This is not the end game; it's a process.
``Of course people have concerns and worries, but those who tell us about being more of ``a military man'' have become mere spectators during one of the most difficult and most important periods of our struggle. I can tell you that the burden of responsibility on the majority of us who are actively pursuing this phase is much greater than the risks I took that ended me up in prison.''
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