Norma Burke reports from the launch of Vótáil 100 to mark the centenary of Irish women getting the vote

admin February 5, 2018

February 6th 2018 is the centenary of 100 years of women getting the vote in Ireland.

1918 was also the year in which the first woman was elected to the British Parliament at Westminster. Countess de Markievicz, who represented a Dublin constituency, never took her seat at Westminster. Instead, she joined the revolutionary first Dáil, becoming the first female TD.

To mark the centenary, the Houses of the Oireachtas is hosting a programme of events that will highlight the history of the suffrage movement and its leaders in Ireland and the impact of wider voting rights.

Norma Burke attended the launch at the Houses of the Oireachtas and spoke to Ivana Bacik, Labour Senator for Dublin University and Chairperson of the Votail 100 Committee as well as Micheline Sheehy-Skeffington, grand-daughter of the famous suffragette Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington.