Writing by Larisa Sioneriu, AONTAS Adult Education Initiatives Officer
I joined the two women groups as they got together for a day of joint activities and conversations as part of the Voter Education course.
This meeting was particularly interesting as each group brought new perspectives to the table, one being form an urban area, and the other one form rural Ireland.
They both run training and development programmes. This includes programmes on feminist community education and awareness-raising, health and fitness, steps for employment for women, community workshops and access to third level outreach studies, creativity classes, community development and leadership, and English as a second language, to name a few.
At the training at WCI Ronanstown, women were asked to separate into small groups to create a "wall of issues" collage.
I went around and inquired about their experience of engaging in a course on voting.
People told me they have learned a great deal about local elections and the voting process, and that this kind of education should be compulsory, from an early age.
One participant said: "I am asked things I wasn’t asked before and I talk about things I never talked about before. I learn something new every day."
The creative activity of making a collage - in WCI Ronanstown's beautifully-designed wellbeing garden - prompted interesting discussions around what the main issues are in their communities.
Participants called for urgent action from the Government on these issues:
The group spoke passionately about burning social issues, some bringing in examples of how these play out in their personal lives.
They also talked about potential solutions to these problems. Some felt confident about their knowledge of and involvement in elections following the Voter Education course - both in the local and European elections just completed and in the upcoming General Election in Ireland.
I inquired about their knowledge of European elections and how they felt about politics at a European level, and the conversations got even more interesting. The realities of the challenges of living in a rural area became more evident.
Some participants talked about the benefits of Ireland being a member state of the EU, mainly in relation to the improvement in women’s rights and the development of roads for transport.
A participant commented on how important the directives from the EU were to make visible and address the many issues women face, especially in relation to violence.
Another commented on Brexit and how this is unlikely to happen in Ireland, given the country’s good relationship with the EU.
There were some, however, who expressed mixed feelings about the EU, referring to the migration pact and the housing crisis. They felt that Ireland was giving more to the EU than it was receiving.
The arguments went back and forth, with participants mentioning the value of mobility programmes between member states, some of which have participated in, and drawing differences between healthcare and education in different countries.
"In Spain, you can get medicine over the counter, that you couldn’t get here without a prescription. Simple things like purchasing an inhaler for my asthma, there is much more accessible," reported one participant.
For women from rural areas, working in farming, forestry, and dairy industries, their lives are more difficult as a result in changes in regulations from the EU.
This includes delayed decision-making and approvals on urgent matters that we previously had autonomy on, or lack of affordable insurance for their day-to-day business.
"I don’t know how people in farming will keep making a living," expressed one participant.
As conversations progressed, they agreed that local and national governments have the power to deal with these regulations in ways that they don’t affect the work and their livelihood. There is a lot of confusion around what is being decided in Brussels and what is being decided nationally, and who makes decisions.
According to one participant, "We know we are in the EU, but not more."
"We don’t know where [European candidates] are," another person said. "They don’t come to our house so we can’t ask them for things."
A major issue was the need for transparency and accountability on how the Government makes decisions, especially in relation to European Union directives.
For more information, contact Larisa at lsioneriu@aontas.com