Download Diapositive 1

Marie-Jeanne DA COL RICHERT UdS
CONGRES SOFEIR NANTES 12-13 MARS 2010 IRELAND : LANDSCAPES
Subject:
“Changes in rural and urban landscapes and
Irish women’s changing status and role
since the 1970s”
“Changes in rural and urban landscapes and Irish women’s changing status and role since the 1970s”
“Changes in rural and urban landscapes and Irish women’s changing status and role since the 1970s”
Secularisation process: the traditional division of roles called into question
Issue of women’s empowerment in urban and rural Ireland
First part: Urban visibility
Elimination of discrimination against women in the 1970s; establishment of equality of
rights.
Removal of marriage bar in 1973
1974 Anti-discrimination (Pay) Act
1977 Employment Equality Act
1981 Maternity (Protection of Employees ) Act
2000 Equal Status Act and 2004 Equality Act
62% women engaged in domestic duties in 1971, 41% in 1997
42% women in paid jobs in 1996, 52.5% in 2007
2003 study: legalisation of contraception linked with birth of Celtic Tiger
Dramatic increase of women’s presence in developing services sector in urban centres, in
greater Dublin area in particular
Visibility of a new female group: the Irish Yuppies
“Changes in rural and urban landscapes and Irish women’s changing status and role since the 1970s”
Second part: Treading water in rural areas
Limited access to public services and facilities in rural areas (health care, child care for
ex.)
Invisibility of “helper women”, higher number of “married, widowed and older women”
Persistence of women’s traditional role
(yet ICA membership decreasing since the 1970s)
Disappearance of B&Bs, of local shop and post office
Women under-represented at decision making level, on Health Boards, VECs etc.
Low-paid part time jobs available mostly
Female poverty increasing as well as number of women at-risk-of-poverty
Vulnerable female categories left behind
Picture of rural Ireland almost unchanged
“Changes in rural and urban landscapes and Irish women’s changing status and role since the 1970s”
Third part: Mobility, the sinews of the post feminist women’s struggle
Migration of young educated qualified women from rural to urban Ireland
Depopulation of inner cities, development of suburban areas
City dwellers: commuters
New public transport infrastructures in urban areas
Lack of public transport, of access to Information and Communications Technology
in rural areas
A case in point: Caherciveen in South Kerry
The South Kerry Women’s Association
Mothers and daughters: widening generation gap
In Conclusion:
Growing contrast between urban and rural areas resulting from development of liberal
economy
From a woman’s perspective: two worlds apart
Need for research institutions interested in rural women
Specific consequences of current crisis for Irish women to be studied
“Changes in rural and urban landscapes and Irish women’s changing status and role since the 1970s”