A half day conference entitled ‘Women and Men in Irish Politics – let’s re-imagine Irish Political Culture’ will be held at IT Sligo next Friday, February 11th.
Guest speakers at the Conference include Queens University Belfast Politics Professor and Director at the Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics, Yvonne Galligan, Marian Harkin MEP and IT Sligo Politics and Social Policy lecturer, John Pender.
All the general election candidates in Sligo/North Leitrim are also invited to attend and address the Conference and take part in a question and answer session.
The Conference is being organised by 2nd and 3rd Bachelor of Business in Marketing students as part of their European Studies module.
The Conference will include workshops on the subjects of Dáil Reform, Quotas for Women, Leadership in Irish politics and ‘Cronyism, Corruption, and Clientelism’.
Lecturer in European Studies at IT Sligo, Joan Morrison said that the Conference is open to the public to attend and she is encouraging people to take part in this timely debate on Irish politics; “Poll after poll shows that we are suffering from great apathy towards politics in Ireland at the moment and, with the General Election now imminent, this is a very opportune time to discuss what direction people want politics to take.
“In the last Eurobarometer Poll, Ireland had almost the lowest level of public trust in political institutions across 28 European countries surveyed and this trend is very worrying. Can we afford such indifference in these difficult times?” she said.
The Conference will start at 9am on Friday February 11 and will conclude before lunchtime. It is free and open to all members of the public to attend.
For full details on the Conference and to register for the event see http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1279120885
Yvonne Galligan, Queens University Belfast Politics Professor and Director at the Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics.
Marian Harkin MEP.