Longford County Council member attends unveiling of female representation artwork

Earlier this month Longford County Council Member, Uruemu Adejinmi, attended the unveiling of artwork highlighting the need for more female representation in local government.

The event was held at the Customs House in Dublin by Ireland’s first Regional WoMeN’s Caucus and Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Kieran O’ Donnell, TD.

The artwork, a powerful symbol of the ongoing efforts to elevate the voices and presence of women in political leadership roles, is a collaboration between the members of the WoMeN's Regional Caucus and acclaimed artist and former councillor Sinead Guckian.

It aims to inspire, provoke thought, and serve as a visual reminder of the importance of diverse perspectives in decision-making processes.

Speaking at the unveiling, Chair of the WoMeN’s Regional Caucus, Cavan County Councillor Carmel Brady said the artwork serves as a lasting legacy for the regional caucus, the first of its kind in Ireland. The caucus comprises of 48 female councillors across 13 local authorities in the Western, Midlands and Northern region.

“The decision to commission this artwork arose from a shared aspiration to establish an enduring symbol reflecting the values and aims of the WoMeN's Regional Caucus,” Cllr Brady said.

The Tullyvin elected representative continued: “The work was also commissioned in response to the Caucus’ International Women’s Day events last year which saw our member councils host events to reverse the gender of our council chambers, to visually highlight the enduring inequalities in local politics.”

Cllr Brady continued: “We are the first of our kind in Ireland, and we stand united in our commitment to seeing more women leaders in our local government system. As women in politics, we understand the challenges and barriers that exist for aspiring female leaders.

“Through the unveiling of this artwork, we hope to spark conversations, challenge norms, and ultimately encourage more women to step forward and make their voices heard in local decision-making,” she said.

Speaking at the unveiling, Minister Kieran O'Donnell, TD, said: “This piece of art embodies the idea of ‘Inspire Inclusion’, the theme of International Women’s Day 2024, and reflects the work of my Department and I in recent years to encourage greater inclusion of women in local government.

“We want to address the underrepresentation of women, and people of diversity, in council chambers across the country. Annual initiatives funded by my Department and measures such as maternity leave for councillors, introduced in 2022, and additional administrative maternity supports provided last year seek to reduce the barriers to participation in local government. We hope to see many more taking their rightful places in our council chambers this June.”

Artist Sinead Guckian, known for her poignant and thought-provoking works, shared her inspiration behind the piece, saying: “This was an incredible opportunity to respond to such important work being carried out by the WoMeN’s Regional Caucus and by AILG and See Her Elected and to take the thoughts and experiences from all the women who were involved in last year’s Internation Women’s Day events organised by the Regional Caucus and to be able to express that visually has been extremely important to me and an extremely exciting project to be part of.”

The WoMeN’s Regional Caucus, a project funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and supported by the Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) and See Her Elected (SHE) was established in late 2021 and brings together all female councillors from 13 counties across the West, Midlands and Northern region of Ireland where between 78 percent to 93 percent of the elected local authority councils are made up of men.