2020 International Women’s Day Celebrations

On Wednesday the 4th of March 2020, the NCCWN Dublin Region celebrated International Women’s Day by hosting “Celebrating Feminism Today In Ireland” event in the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel, Dublin. With a jammed packed agenda and over 250 women, Sharon Geraghty (NCCWN National Financial Coordinator) started with a welcome and overview of NCCWN. Vivienne Glanville (NCCWN Ronanstown / Rowlagh Coordinator) got the atmosphere going with “Who’s In the House” naming all the groups represented on the morning and launched the NCCWN Women’s Health & Well – being Statement that so many of the women in the room gave their input over the past two years.

Six (40 minute) Health & Well–being Workshops were held with each of the women picking two to attend. The workshops included: Laughter Yoga; Toolkit For Life; Energy & Meditation Workshop; Red Tent; Time For Me; and Mindfulness through Art. Following the workshops, we heard from two amazing keynote speakers Aideen Quilty & Alibhe Smyth who spoke about:

• How far women have come
• What are we still fighting for?
• What should be on the agenda in 2020 in relation to women’s rights and gender equality?

A key feature of the NCCWN Dublin Region’s International Women’s Day Celebrations has been the recognition and acknowledgement of the outstanding contribution made within the community sector by wonderful women. This year was no different and we in NCCWN honoured a truly inspirational woman who has dedicated over 30 years of her life to working with women within the community:

Valerie O’Carroll

Valerie is from Clondalkin and she first got involved in community work in the 80’s when she became a volunteer on the board of Rowlagh Women’s Group. She went onto to work in Clondalkin Women’s Network as the Project Coordinator. She remained in this role for over 12 years. The impact she had on the lives of the women and women’s groups that she worked with in Clondalkin is profound. Her feminist voice has been heard on numerous committees and boards throughout the years. She was a founding member of the NCCWN board long before we were ever a national organisation and she played a vital role in ensuring we became a national organisation. NCCWN were delighted to honour Valerie’s Community Work and Activism as part of our International Women’s Day celebration and thank her for being such an Inspirational Woman!! Valerie was diagnosed with MND (Motor Neurones Disease) in October 2019 and is currently tirelessly highlighting and fundraising for the research of MND to try find a cure for the disease.

We would like to thank Krista for helping us to end the event on high with music celebrating women, including ‘We will Survive’ before we had lunch together. We would also like to extend our appreciation to Microsoft Ireland for their support of this event.