Thank you, Alastair, for your very kind welcome.
Distinguished members of the Royal Irish Academy, honoured guests and
friends. Sometimes, even when we state the obvious, we're doing more than
stating the obvious.
The obvious, about today, is that we're here to unveil the latest portraits
to grace the Academy’s walls.
Maybe we should halt at that word "unveil." Because it means so much more
-- in this particular case --- than it usually would.
The contribution of women to every aspect of history has been largely
invisible. That's a fact.
The contribution of women to science, likewise.
In a very real sense, it has been veiled.
Not totally erased.
But not immediately visible, either.
Veiled in references and footnotes.
That's why it's an inspired decision to commemorate the first four women
elected in 1949 to the Academy.
It gives us a chance to name them:
Sheila Tinney,
Francoise Henry,
Phyllis Clinch and
Eleanor Knott.
It gives us a chance to congratulate their families on their significant
accomplishments.
I'm a great believer in naming. Anonymity is a choice. Anonymity in science
was very decidedly not a choice for women in the past, and naming these
four women is a first step to creating the curiosity that'll lead a new
generation to google them and wonder at what they did.
I'm also a great believer in the portrait. All of us carry half a million
photographs on our smartphones, and there's a good chance photographs will
be tweeted from this event. I hope so.
But the painted portrait is different. It is an encounter between a person
and a painter, between a reputation and an artist. There's added value
there.
(Or sometimes not. You will remember that when Winston Churchill sat for
one of the major painters of his time, he was later formally presented with
the portrait and everybody applauded. With the exception of Churchill's
wife, who couldn't wait to get it home. Once she had it home, she assaulted
it with a knife and flittered it, because she hated it so much. You have to
shake your head at the vandalism and at the same time, kind of admire her
spousal loyalty, don't you?!)
The formal portrait has always been used by nations, by associations and by
institutions as a way of saying "This is what matters. These are the
figures who brought us to where we are."
The sad truth is that most of the formal portraits on the walls of national
institutions and organisations are of men. This is a step towards
redressing that visual statement.
Our women scientists have done us proud in the past, against almost
insuperable obstacles. And they're doing us proud now:
Professor Sarah McCormack,
Professor Aoife McLysaght,
Dr Aoife Gowen,
Professor Lydia Lynch,
Professor Debra Laefer,
Professor Emma Teeling,
Dr Maria McNamara and
Professor Catríona Lally –
all recently received Starter Grants from the European Research Council.
These grants go to promising researchers in the early stages of their
careers who've demonstrated the potential to become independent research
leaders.
It's important we capture these seminal moments and document the change in
Irish society towards greater equality between women and men.
Vera Klute and Blaise Smith, the artists, haven't just produced beautiful
work. They've made art that blows away narrow preconceptions of what
pioneering scientists, inventors, and academics should look like.
I hope these paintings deliver, for young visitors to the Academy, the
mantra, “If you can see it, you can be it”. It takes a great deal of
imagination and determination to project yourself along a career path that
no one in your circle has previously followed. So much of what we aspire to
be is shaped by our environments and what we see about us, who we relate to
and what we work we see them doing.
I have to agree with the eminent astrophysicist Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell
Burnell, when she says she believes culture, not biology, determines
women's career choices. She cites the variation in the number of female
astronomers in different countries around the world, from 6% in Japan to
37% in Argentina. She says "it is our sisters, our cousins and our aunts
who determine what is appropriate for women to do, to a large extent. They
influence the early decisions of girls." So it is not only young women we
should seek to educate about wider choices, but also their peers and their
parents.
That process isn't a tedious didactic one. On the contrary. It's one of
re-discovery. One of the great things, for example, about the 1916
commemorations is that the vital part that women played in the struggle for
Irish freedom has been uncovered and documented for future generations, and
the voices of women have been prominent in this year’s centenary
commemoration of the events of 1916.
So, I am delighted to see the Academy looking into its history, in
partnership with Accenture, and giving prominence to some of the
exceptional women among its past members, making their contributions
permanently visible to influence all who visit this building in the future.
Before I conclude, I would like to take the opportunity to bring to your
attention the public consultation on a new National Women’s Strategy. This
consultation will remain open for submissions until 27 January. I am
confident that you will all have very definite views and practical
suggestions to contribute, not least about how we can give higher
visibility to the achievements of women, past and present. I would also
like to hear your thoughts about how we can empower the present and future
generations of women and girls to recognise and achieve their full
potential. I would urge you to let my Department know your views about the
priorities we should pursue in this new Strategy over the next four years.
Full details of the consultation and public meetings are on my Department’s
website.
If this past year has taught us anything about the state of gender equality
in Ireland and globally, it is that the struggle for equality is far from
over. If anything we risk stalling or, worse, going into reverse.
Paternalistic attitudes that I grew up with and thought had died are coming
back to life.
But I know that you share my conviction that the rewards of gender equality
are immeasurable, not only for individual women and girls, but also for men
and boys and for the communities and societies in which we live. It is
through innovative and practical initiatives such as the Women on Walls
campaign that we will keep the momentum going in the right direction.
That brings me to Alastair Blair and his colleagues at Accenture and to
Laura Mahony and the membership of the Royal Irish Academy, who deserve a
major round of applause for their work - Thank you both and thank you all.