Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A social scientist and peacebuilder who co-founded the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition, signed the Good Friday Agreement, and pioneered research on domestic
On the island
Eight records
Van Morrison started singing, There Will Be Days Like This. And I never forgot it. In fact, it was a turning point for me because I began to think, how can I contribute now to making this last?
I think Phil Coulter, in those lyrics, just absolutely epitomised everything that was terrible about what we call the Northern Iron Troubles... But it's also a story of how we can move on.
Il PostinoFavourite
When I hear this music, it carries me to another place. It is so beautiful and haunting.
I have my wonderful sister, and she is not only a sister by birth, but she's a friend. And also on the day that I got married, this was the song I chose.
I remember in the 70s walking up Royal Avenue on International Women's Day... The words of it are incredibly powerful... it's about changing the world.
I love this national anthem... and to have in my lifetime, to be able to say that I was locked up with Mandela for three days and then to hear this song brings me back to that place.
Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
I was invited to do Strictly Come Dancing... We won that night. So every time I hear this music, I start dancing.
Edith Piaf is just the most powerful woman singer... No, I regret nothing. And I think that... you're an ordinary woman who gets thrown into extraordinary times and you do the best with what you've got.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:39How optimistic are you that the talks will be successful this time?
I remain optimistic... I still believe that we will get there... When you taste peace and you have the prize of peace, there's no going back.
Presenter asks
4:17What do you see as the relationship between domestic violence and conflict in wider society?
Well, during conflict it's very hidden because the hospitals and the police officers are taken up with so much of what they call terrorism. But actually a great deal of domestic terrorism is also going on behind the scenes because the women can't speak out, they can't seek out the support that they need, and it goes on at much higher levels. When I did my study, I was able to show that as many women were being killed by their own partners as there were in the conflict itself.
Presenter asks
9:11How much did you mix with your Protestant counterparts as a young girl?
Well, that was the sad thing. We actually didn't. There was two of everything, two youth clubs, two dance halls, of course, two schools. So from the age of four when we went to school till I was eighteen, I could honestly say to you I never mixed with anyone from the Protestant religion, which I wanted to.
The keepsakes
The book
The Field Day Anthology, Volumes 4 and 5
I would love to take the Field Day anthology, volumes four and five, which are known as the Women's Anthology.
The luxury
I'd love a snorkel. I absolutely love going down under the water and watching the fish pass me by.
Presenter asks
15:15Why was the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition needed?
Well, we had been working together for the previous two decades and more. Many of us had cut our teeth on asking for the Sex Discrimination Act to be extended to Northern Ireland. And so we figured, you know what, there's an awful lot that unites us here. And if there's going to be peace negotiations, why shouldn't there be some women at that table? And so we wrote to all the parties and they didn't bother answering.
Presenter asks
21:03What did you learn in South Africa about resolution?
I think it was the most profound learning experience of my life... We were actually locked up in a military camp in a place called Arneston in Eastern Cape... And their message was: you don't have to take what we're telling you to your own situation, but we'd like you to listen to how we got to where we're at. And after those three days, we were different people, all of us.
Presenter asks
23:22What are your memories of those final days before the Belfast Agreement was signed?
It was the tensest three days other than giving birth to my children that I've ever experienced. In many ways, it was a bit like that. It was hard labour. We were up all night. The hero of the process was Mo Molam, who had been through chemotherapy and was wearing a wig... She used to take her wig off and she would run around with an intra-travenous strip in her arm and barefoot, negotiating like you never saw anybody negotiating between the rooms... And I had said to the woman, Now the cameras will be on us, so make sure we don't cry, because this is an incredible emotional time. You know, you're signing a peace agreement for your country after many, many decades of conflict. And we all held ourselves together till we looked around the table and saw grown men crying. And I threw up my arms and said, Okay, you can cry now if you want.
“When you taste peace and you have the prize of peace, there's no going back.”
“As many women were being killed by their own partners as there were in the conflict itself.”
“Go home and be grandfathers, which you keep telling me you want to be, instead of brigadiers and commanders and all these titles that they give themselves.”
“You're an ordinary woman who gets thrown into extraordinary times and you do the best with what you've got.”