Why Do You Want to Pursue a Graduate Degree

For what reason Do You Want to Pursue a Graduate Degree?If you're searching for an advanced education, you might need to consider posing an inquiry that takes a gander at the reasons you are seeking after an advanced education. In any case, would prefer you not to take a gander at a portion of the purposes behind doing this? Consider the inquiries underneath to get started.Do you should be so as to do your advanced education? So as to win an advanced education, you should have an advanced education so as to get into an alumni program. What amount would you like to receive in return? You will likewise must have a specific GPA to proceed into graduate school.Why would you like to be an instructor? On the off chance that you think training is a valid justification for seeking after an advanced education, you might need to take a gander at a portion of the open doors for teachers. There are numerous employments for instructors out there. You may even have the option to do what you apprec iate and function as a teacher.Do you have to do explore on your advanced education? In the event that you've for the longest time been itching to do explore, yet haven't gotten around to it as a result of the time requests included, right now is an ideal opportunity to do your exploration. This will be expected of you when you go into graduate school.Do you need to do some movement? Voyaging will help with your advanced education in the event that you choose to travel. It will be an incredible learning experience for you to travel. You will likewise need to consider the way that you should be authorized before you can travel.If you're searching for an advanced education, you may likewise need to take a gander at a portion of the purposes behind why you need to seek after an advanced education. Possibly the reasons aren't actually what you need to know. Possibly you need to know why you should accomplish something, however you simply aren't sure what that something is. These reasons will assist you with studying what you have to do to get an alumni degree.These are only a couple of the reasons that may come up when you are attempting to make sense of for what reason would you like to seek after an advanced education. There are a lot more reasons that you may need to choose if this is the correct way for you. One approach to make sense of on the off chance that you should take up this kind of instruction is to take a gander at the explanations behind doing this.Business tests are written so that they could be utilized for an alumni understudy. A significant piece of picking the business tests for use for this reason for existing is to ensure that the business test that you are going to utilize doesn't damage any laws. A few organizations, be that as it may, can't utilize business tests as their own. You ought to have the option to discover more data about this from the online school where you will be taking classes.

Writing IELTS Opinion Essay Topics

Composing IELTS Opinion Essay TopicsAs a working grown-up with a public activity and different obligations, I have consistently thought that it was valuable to pick IELTS sentiment exposition themes that would be reasonable for my degree course. I would now be able to state that the subject of the paper will significantly impact my future odds of getting into the college or college.The primary concern to do is to make a sub-heading (or title) on your exposition that features what 'is' to you and 'why' matters to you, and include an individual turn the subject. For instance, in the event that I needed to compose a supposition exposition on discovering business, I would make it as close to home as conceivable with the theme, making the attention on me instead of some organization or foundation. Almost certainly, managers would be progressively keen on discussing me and my characteristics than what organization I work for.By picking IELTS feeling article themes with an individual wind, I believe that the perusing would be all the more intriguing to those understanding it. What's more, on the off chance that they find that the substance is intriguing, I would be certain that they would be increasingly disposed to add further to hear more knowledge to my thoughts. Another point to consider is that one could attempt to supplement or difference the focuses made by a writer with that of another author, either namelessly or as a component of a collage.By utilizing a sentiment article themes with an individual wind, you may have the option to acquire validity from managers. Managers likewise frequently go to the assessments of specialists in their field as more dependable than those of students.It additionally helps in the event that you apply the tips referenced above when you pick IELTS feeling exposition points. On the off chance that your subject is about a particular nation, a nation's qualities, culture or religion, you ought to most likely concentrate more on exam ining this theme than on some other. This is on the grounds that, to businesses, individuals who have a solid enthusiasm for a particular subject would normally be increasingly proficient about it.I recommend that you ensure you are expounding on a theme that you truly care about. It may assist with recording your inclinations on a piece of paper. Next, distinguish the subjects you feel that you know a ton about and use them as points for your IELTS sentiment essay.Finally, put forth sure you put more attempt into making an extraordinary contention to help your picked point as opposed to simply including a great deal of realities with no data backing them up. On the off chance that you don't have a great deal of data to help your point, your paper won't be extremely powerful. Or maybe, ensure you attempt to remember proof and purposes behind your article so as to persuade the peruser of your position.While IELTS exposition themes are not the most straightforward thing to compose, th ey can even now be made all the more intriguing and persuading on the off chance that you set aside the effort to deliberately choose the ones that suit you best. As an author, you should realize that the substance you make is the thing that will pull in the perusers to your exposition and decide if you get into the college or not.

Tips to Find the Best Biology Extended Essay Topics Examples

Tips to Find the Best Biology Extended Essay Topics ExamplesBiology expanded exposition points models ought to be very much investigated and instructive, yet the writer's energy for that specific theme ought not be the reason for composing. This sort of exposition theme is commonly increasingly well known in science classes where science is a significant subject. Since understudies at these schools have just examined the sciences as a class, the task won't be unreasonably hard for them.Biology expanded paper subjects models are normally encouraged utilizing an article structure known as the 'steady model.' When utilized as exposition composing tips, it is a successful method to offer your crowd a knowledge into what you have realized in the classroom.The first thing you should pay special mind to when searching for science broadened paper points models is that the themes you have chosen for this reason for existing are as of now recognizable to you. Individuals who go to an ordinary school regularly will in general have a similar information base. It is additionally acceptable if the themes are equivalent to the ones you are as of now inspired by. In the event that you expound on these points for a task, at that point you can without much of a stretch join a subject from the perusing material to your essay.The next thing you have to do to locate the best science expanded paper themes models is research. Your themes ought to be founded on the information base of the individual perusing your work. On the off chance that they have examined the subjects at school, they will as of now have the greater part of the information bases required to react to your exposition. You ought not chance mistaking your perusers for an excess of information.It is additionally imperative to attempt to envision what they might want to peruse, and afterward start from that point. Nonetheless, you ought not disregard the pieces of the themes that are basic to everybody. You should save things straightforward for novices and proceed to clarify the parts that are not all that common.There are many distributions where you can get science expanded article themes models. You should look through some for a smart thought of what sort of subjects you should cover. It would be greatly improved on the off chance that you could buy a book or a CD with an assortment of topics.Before you pick the one you need to utilize, ensure that it is anything but difficult to adjust. A point which is too troublesome will require a lot of examination. Then again, one that is simple will require an excess of time to plan for.Those are the means you have to take to locate the best science expanded article themes models accessible. Recollect that the subjects you pick ought to be in accordance with the information base of the peruser. Ensure that the points you select will be anything but difficult to adjust for the individuals who don't generally see all the data you are giving them.

Essay Topics for Middle School Students

Exposition Topics for Middle School StudentsPersonal articles are consistently an errand, however this year you need to ensure you get the entirety of the correct individual paper points for center school. That is the reason here are a few thoughts for individual exposition subjects for your children for the up and coming year.One of the best close to home article points that you can have for center school is about a leisure activity. This is extraordinary for kids who appreciate doing sports and other physical exercises. It additionally gives them something that they can impart to their schoolmates. It's likewise a good time for them to expound on and have their companions perused it.Another extraordinary thought for individual paper subjects is something identified with an intrigue. It doesn't need to be about a subject, yet it can simply be something that intrigues them. It doesn't need to be anything large, yet they'll receive a great deal of fun in return in the event that they realize that everybody will peruse it.Another smart thought for individual exposition points in the center school is to share something that you figure your children should think about. Perhaps their educators should know something that they don't. Maybe they should know something about how to be effective in school. Simply sharing the way that your children are getting the hang of something can mean a lot.Something that is identified with center school will be a smart thought for individual exposition points too. There are a lot of points that your children can have about their kindred understudies. You'll see that understudies are taking in a ton from one another and there is nothing amiss with imparting that data to other people. Try not to be reluctant to request sentiments or ask what they think.Finally, individual article themes will be founded on various things for each individual. Some will have a subject based one. Forexample, possibly your kid will need to expound on their school move, their folks' Christmas celebration, or what they did at day camp. This is one approach to hear their thoughts out and show that you are doing research.The most significant thing to recollect is that when you are doing explore for article subjects, recall that you are gaining from others. Don't simply anticipate that them should concur with you. Discover their opinion of something and afterward adjust the thoughts for your own essay.Personal article themes are an errand, however don't let it prevent you from discovering incredible approaches to put thoughts to paper. Get imaginative and discover approaches to find out about themes that you will use in your article. Be tolerant and don't be hesitant to commit errors, with the goal that your understudies can gain from them and use them for their own articles.

Doing Dissertation Help - The Right Way

Doing Dissertation Help - The Right WayIt is genuine that composing a thesis help isn't hard, however it very well may be truly disappointing when you don't get the outcome you anticipated. Once in a while you find that while you are completing the undertaking, you understand that you are not so much observing the outcomes you needed. Presently if this transpires, the arrangement is simple. Take a gander at your exposition help manage first.These help guides are out there in numerous spots, yet you need to search for them and ensure they have a decent notoriety. Ensure that they incorporate all the data that you need so as to see your exposition to the most significant level. Despite the fact that your paper is one of the most significant pieces of your degree, it doesn't imply that you needn't bother with assistance with it. There are bunches of understudies who can't get their exposition composed, so in the event that you are one of them, you are in karma. You should simply to get the correct assistance with exposition is no issue anymore.The most ideal approach to discover great paper help is to search for a guide that can assist you with making sense of what botches you may have made so as to think of your thesis. On the off chance that you were fruitful, at that point you will likewise realize how to abstain from committing similar errors later on. You can get these aides from an assortment of sources, similar to school libraries or even on the Internet.Because you have various things that you may be pondering about, it will be useful on the off chance that you will discover a guide that will respond to every one of your inquiries. During the time spent exploring, you can think about the assessments of different understudies in your general vicinity who are dealing with a thesis. This is on the grounds that there are such huge numbers of understudies in each field. So on the off chance that you discover a guide that has extraordinary counsel, you will get the advantage of this data from different understudies who have been from your perspective before.It is additionally significant that you search for a thesis help control that can point you the correct way with regards to punctuation. Indeed, the absence of punctuation in a thesis is exceptionally normal and you can dodge it by searching for a decent guide that has all the rules you need. It isn't just about having the option to settle on your promise decision right. It is additionally about how you compose your sentences, which is significant in this kind of writing.Finally, the exposition assist that with canning help you with regards to arranging your paper will be an extraordinary resource for you. With such a significant number of various arrangements accessible, it tends to be confounding when you are attempting to make sense of how to design your paper. With a decent guide that can give you tips on the most ideal approaches to arrange your exposition, you won't experience any difficulty with this. All things considered, one reason why you need to design your paper is with the goal that it looks on a par with conceivable, right?The best exposition assist will with taking these elements into thought and give you a top to bottom investigation of your archive. At this point, you will have the option to see which guidance is the best for you, and you will likewise have the option to choose what sort of assist you with requiring for paper help. Since you would prefer not to commit similar errors once more, search for a guide that can respond to your inquiries, and that can point you the correct way with regards to arranging your dissertation.Once you have discovered a guide that you are content with, you can proceed onward to the subsequent stage. The following thing that you need to do is to accumulate the entirety of the assistance that you can so as to transform your proposition into a reality. With your paper help direct, you will have the option to be ef fective in this assignment, and you will likewise have the option to keep your mental soundness during the procedure.

Online Writing Paper Services

Internet Writing Paper ServicesThe web based composing paper administrations offer various choices to get the papers. From waxing and fading to the shading administrations, the online specialist organizations are offering their administrations as indicated by the necessities of the clients. A portion of the stains on papers might be gentle and innocuous while others might be serious and must be expelled right away. For these individuals, the cleaning and slaughtering techniques ought to be affirmed by the customers to keep away from terrible consequences for the product.There are two regular strategies for expelling the stains on paper. The first is to utilize the warmth to dispose of the recoloring while the other one is the freezing technique. In any case, the technique that is picked relies upon the seriousness of the stain. On the off chance that the stain is gentle, at that point the substance strategy is the best choice. The compound is utilized so as to relax the paste of the paper and afterward its surface won't be stained.This is finished by utilizing the concoction substances which can be found at any drug store. Be that as it may, the use of the compound on the stain is essential for it to work. On the off chance that, the laser alternative isn't accessible, at that point the corrosive choice can be utilized for the expulsion of the stains on paper. The acids are generally utilized in blend with the warmth and it assists with disposing of the fluid that comes out of the paper due to the acidic solution.It is genuine that a few synthetic concoctions operators respond with one another. It is compulsory to check the items cautiously so as to expel the shading from the recolored papers. Despite the fact that there are sure synthetic substances that can work with some paper however it won't help in forestalling the stains on the paper.The paper waring administrations additionally help in setting up a free cutting card as a guide. This card can be utilized by the client to get the correct cutting method which can be applied by the customers themselves. There are numerous online suppliers that offer this assistance and they are effectively accessible online.The free cutting cards are accessible as clear or shaded pictures. These photos are accessible in the PC screen in printable goals. The customer needs to print out the free card from the predetermined PC and afterward cover them with the sponsorship material that is accessible with the paper items. After the cover, the free card can be utilized to cut the papers accordingly.Such instruments are important to expel the stains from the papers so as to get a perfect looking item. There are numerous online suppliers that give the apparatuses without charging any extra expense. Yet, it is prudent to get a free preliminary of the apparatuses for a trial before settling on a choice to purchase the administrations. It is smarter to purchase the administrations simply after the free trial.Th e recolors on paper are not just the impact of inappropriate upkeep of the papers. A portion of the events may acquire recoloring in the papers, yet it is difficult to evacuate the stains totally. The wriiting administration is the ideal answer for the stains on paper and it assists with getting the best outcomes from the papers in a brief timeframe.

What Are The Types Of Essay Topics For Orange Is The New Black

What Are The Types Of Essay Topics For Orange Is The New Black?There are a few Orange is the New Black paper subjects accessible on the Internet. Ensure you pick the themes that intrigue to you, and can be adjusted to the paper format.However, there are some significant viewpoints to note with article points for Orange is the New Black. To begin with, there are one, however two kinds of expositions. You can pick the kind of exposition that accommodates your needs.One sort of paper that has been mainstream on a TV arrangement about a genuine wrongdoing was the character Sam Seder, played by Laura Prepon. The characters were each relegated to a region in the jail that they would relate with. Understudies are answerable for composing letters to these detainees to get refreshes on their lives, and once in a while they would compose a diary of their experiences.But, the scholars needed to keep their interchanges with the detainees to just one letter a week or, more than likely hazard bein g sent to isolation. The main draft of the paper is then finished by a kindred detainee, who can take the work and make proposals with respect to what to change or add to the story. In some cases this is done before the article is turned in, and different occasions it occurs after the paper is submitted.Another sort of exposition that could be remembered for the Internet is the one from the numerous passages found on the Yellow Pages. These could likewise be effectively adjusted to Orange is the New Black's exposition subjects. It is very basic for these passages to be found at 'covers' sites that element subjects identified with the film.There are really two sorts of exposition points in the Yellow Pages. The main kind is the expansive assortment of subjects that incorporate a depiction of the climate, which is a typical topic all through the film, with instances of scenes all through the arrangement. Other wide subjects incorporate a concise proclamation by the writer about the fi lm itself, trailed by an a couple of passage diagram of the story being presented.In a second kind of article point, understudies are approached to depict how they would respond to specific circumstances. Instances of circumstances that have been submitted for conversation would incorporate a few situations that happen when Piper is working with her friends.There are various article points for Orange is the New Black accessible on the Internet. Ensure you pick the ones that fit your needs and can be adjusted to the paper design.

Why are there so few women in positions of power in Northern Ireland

Few women have made an impact on politics in Northern Ireland. The political culture and traditions of Northern Ireland politics are very much male-oriented and whilst women have worked hard for change behind the scenes for many years, few have taken the step into standing as candidates in elections, less still successfully winning elections. Following the Belfast Agreement, things may, slowly, be beginning to change. Mo Mowlam writes enthusiastically of the part that women played in the talks leading up to the Agreement: one of the most remarkable aspects of the talks process was seeing women, not only in the Womens Coalition, but also in other parties, sitting alongside their male colleagues and arguing their points. They brought a new quality of debate to the proceeding (Galligan, Ward Wilford 1999).Nonetheless, despite the election of three women MPs in the first general election (2001) after the Belfast Agreement, women remain massively under-represented in politics in Northern Ireland. This dissertation examines the reasons for this. Chapter two looks at the traditional role of women in politics, both in Northern Ireland and in other parts of the world. Election in the UK and policies towards women of other British parties are examined. The chapter also looks at womens movements abroad, in the likes of South Africa and Nicaragua and analyses how they have affected the political landscape in their own countries. Chapter three takes a general overview of women in Northern Ireland, commenting on how they have reacted to the traditional view and values of the Church and the State in the province. The formation of the earlier Womens movements is detailed here although these groups have remained on the borders on mainstream politics, the fact that women have for decades joined together on particular issues is important in the context of womens involvement in politics. The difficulties face by women in what is a conservative, traditional and often sexist culture is also discussed. Chapter four looks at the attitudes towards women in politics held by voters in Northern Ireland and analyses whether the small number of women involved is determined by supply or demand factors. Using data from the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, this chapter argues that there is no lack of demand for women to be involved in politics amongst the electorate, rather that a number of factors around the inclination of women to enter into politics and the traditional views that still hold sway in Northern Ireland, are influential. This chapter also makes use of research undertaken in interviewing a number of women councillors in Northern Ireland about their perceptions on why many women avoid political life. Various reason for women to remain outside of representative politics are given again he traditional culture of Northern Ireland and perceptions about a womans role are seen as important, Chapter five examines in details the attitudes and policies of the main political parties in Northern Ireland towards womens issues and the role of women within the political parties themselves. Parties in Northern Ireland have traditionally focused primarily on constitutional and security issues to the detriment of womens issues. Party leadership in parties across the political spectrum have been male dominated. This chapter looks at each of the main parties, examining firstly how party structures and leaderships accommodate female members and secondly how party policy makers address (or fail to address)womens issues. Chapter six provides a conclusion to the dissertation. The situation in Northern Ireland where women have traditionally had difficulties establishing themselves within the formal political process has been mirrored, if perhaps not to such an extent, in other Western democracies. Evidence from UK elections indicates a historical prejudice against women candidates, whilst elsewhere in Europe and across the world, there are examples of women having to draw together on their identity as women to challenge their exclusion from politics. Analysis of general elections in Britain indicates that many fewer women than men are selected as prospective parliamentary candidates and those that are usually chosen for less hopeful seats (Leonard and Mortimore 2001, p97). However, the number of has candidates has grown reasonably steadily since 1996, with parties gradually accepting the need to take steps to increase the number of women selected. The Conservative in particular have found this difficult, largely due to the reluctance of the party leadership to interfere with the autonomy and conservative nature of many of its local associations. The Labour Party has had more success. Its party conference took the decision in1993 to try to increase its number of women MPs by introducing policies of positive discrimination. The introduction of all-women shortlist and quotas proved controversial, with the process being deemed illegal by an industrial tribunal in 1996, yet the drive by Labour to increase womens representation paid di vidends with the partys victory in the1997 election, the number of women in the house of Commons doubled to120 (Leonard and Mortimore 2001, p97). Elections for regional assemblies in Scotland and Wales have seen an increase in the number of women winning seats. The systems of proportional representation used in these elections has allowed Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the nationalist policies to ensure that candidates on lists were alternately male and female. As a result over38 per cent of representatives at Holyrood and 40 per cent at Cardiff Bay have been women (Leonard and Mortimore 2001, p98). Elsewhere, women have made direct interventions within their political systems to ensure that they are represented within the political process. In Spain, the Womens Democratic Movement (WDM) began as an opposition group to the Franco regime and went onto lobby for womens interests during the countrys democratic transition. It successfully pressured the government into ratifying the Convention for Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). In Iceland the Icelandic Womens Alliance (IWA) emerged in the 1980s as a group powerful to win 11.1% of a national poll (Fearon 1999 appendix 1). In Sweden, the issue of womens participation in politics directly compelled women to join together on a cross-party basis in the prelude to the 1994 elections. As a result, Sweden then elected what Faluditerms the most female government in the world a parliament that was41% female with a cabinet that was 50% female. (Fearon 1999, appendix1). More relevant to the issues around womens political involvement in Northern Ireland are the examples of South Africa and Nicaragua, where women have acted together to challenge male-dominated political times when their countries have been undergoing periods of transition. In Nicaragua, women achieved political gains during the revolutionary period but, perceiving that these gains were not being fully transferred to the new society after a transitional period, women joined together to form the Nicaraguan National Coalition of Women(NNCW) in January 1996. Under this cross-party coalition women joined together to educate and themselves and prepared themselves to go backend fight elections within their existing parties in October of that year. The aim was to promote the equitable participation of women in the countrys politics, something that was made difficult, as women within the coalition had historically been political or even military enemies. There were certainly some similarities with Northern Ireland and the group had to strive hard to focus on unity and reaching a consensus. The NNCW was able to agree a minimum agenda emphasising womens participation in civil and political society. In South Africa, women had become influenced by the experiences of womens organisations around the world and the ANC Womens League(ANCWL) sparked a debate across the country about the necessity of organising as women (Fearon 2001 appendix1). In September 1991 thirty womens organisations came together in the Womens National Coalition(WNC) to discuss the drawing up of a womens charter on equality. The charter was eventually produced after a huge participatory exercise that included an estimated 2 million women and was made up of twelve articles, one of which called for mechanisms to enable womens participation in civic and political life (Fearon 2001 appendix 1) The charter was vitally important to the development of women in politics in South Africa as it challenged traditional perceptions and values about the womans place in political and civic life. Another success of the WNC was to lobby hard for a ruling passed in 1993 that required all negotiation delegations to reserve space for women. Prior to the formation of the NIWC, the impact that individuals or groups of women had made on Northern Ireland politics had been relatively minimal. There are however a few examples of women who, although not directly involved as representatives in the political process, made their presence known. In the 1970s, two Belfast women, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan won the Nobel Peace Prize for leading a peace movement that aimed to end the violence by way of people power. Inspired to action following the death of three children in a car chase involving IRA men, the Peace People as the movement was known called on the people of Northern Ireland to reject terrorism and quickly snowballed into a movement that could attract tens of thousands of people onto the streets in outdoor rallies. The movement eventually failed due to internal divisions within the movement, personality clashes and disputes on how to spend the Nobel Prize money. Whilst still surviving today, the Peace People is n ow a small-scale movement that failed to deliver on the hopes that it once raised. Helen McKendry was a brave Belfast woman who campaigned to raise the issue of the so-called disappeared victims of the IRA, who had included her own mother Jean McConville, taken from the family home in1972 and never heard of again (Independent, March 2, 2005). Following the IRA ceasefire in 1994, McKendry launched a campaign to have her mothers body returned and eventually pressured the IRA into giving details about the location of her mothers body and those of other victims. May Blood was a woman that played a prominent role in the loyalist community for many years, prior to involvement in the NIWC. She was a determined community activist in the Shankhill Road district, concentrating on issues such as housing, welfare, jobs, training, employment and labour relations. Speaking after she had been made across-bench peer in 2000, Baroness Blood stated: My life is about serving this community, particularly young people. For years they have just been fodder for the paramilitaries. We want the next generation to be real people with real futures. (Independent, March 2, 2005). It is worth noting that like May Blood, the trend in Northern Ireland has generally been for women activists to concentrate on community development rather than electoral politics. The situation of women in Northern Ireland is not entirely unique. Whilst the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland affect politics at all levels, the fact remains that women in Northern Ireland share comm on experiences with women elsewhere in terms of the difficulties that they have making an impact in the political arena. Rightly or wrongly, representative politics around the world remains largely dominated by males, and in this respect women in Northern Ireland face the same challenges as women elsewhere. Analysis of the womens movement in Northern Ireland or attempters tointegrate women more fully into the political process must understandsome of the cultural traditions and influences that affect womenslives. As Monica McWilliams states: the role which both the Church andState play shapes not only the more traditional thinking behind some ofthe major institutions, such as the education system or the judiciary,but it also responsible for the extremely conservative ideology forwhich the Province has become infamous (Hughes 1991, p91). Theattitude of the Church has certainly been that the primary role ofwomen is that of mothers and housewives and this has been somethingthat has held women back from entering into politics. Issues aroundsexuality, the dissolution of marriage or rights in the home or at workhave seen feminists face opposition from clergy, politicians and as aresult, their communities. Again McWilliams summarises the situationstating, in the face of such traditional Catholi cism and Protestantfundamentalism, it has proved extremely difficult for women to organisearound issues which are of personal and political influence to them(Hughes 1991,p81). Both the Protestant and Catholic Church have maintained a traditionalline on the domestic role of women. They have exhorted mothers to takeresponsibility for their children by looking after them at home andhave largely opposed political initiatives such as the provision of daycare for children as it poses a challenge to the traditional ideologywhich supports the segregated division of labour in the home. The viewof the Church from half a century ago has remained prevalent in modernday Northern Ireland. Bishop McGean had stated in 1945 that the properplace for the baby is in the home and the proper guardian is themother. Nature decided that and God approved of that decision ofnature (Hughes 1991, p89). Womens groups in Northern Ireland have made gradual progress ininstigating political and social change. They have begun to createstructures that enable individual women to have some measure of controlover their lives. One example is found in the work of an umbrellaorganisation known as The Womens Information Day, along withprojects such as Womens Aid, the Womens Education Project and theNorthern Ireland Womens Rights Movement. All of these groups, formedprior to the establishment of the Northern Ireland Womens Coalition,were organised in a non-sectarian way, holding meetings in bothloyalist and nationalist areas and raising controversial issues thatwere sensitive to one anothers beliefs. In 1985, whilst campaigning onchanges to the benefit system, a group of Catholic and Protestant womentravelled to London to lobby their MPs to oppose a propose SocialSecurity Bill and were appalled to find that their own politicalrepresentatives were more interested in opposing the Anglo-Irishagreeme nt (which had been launched on the same day) and refused to meetthem on the grounds that they were too busy. McWilliams writes thatthey returned home to Belfast on the same night more convinced thanever that their political representatives were much less interested inmatters of social and economic concerns (Hughes 1991, p92). One of the most glaring features of life for women in Northern Irelandhas been the hardship of poverty with all its social, financial andpsychological repercussions. Women in Northern Ireland have come at thetop of research tables listing infant mortality rates, unemployment ordependency on social security (Hughes 1991, p92). It is women who haveexperienced poverty as prisoners wives, as widows, as single parents,divorced, separated or unmarried, as managers of unemployed families,as single and elderly women living alone, or as low paid wage earners.As a result, womens groups such as the Northern Ireland Womens RightsMovement began to offer advice and information to women, producingleaflet to help women in the face of overpowering bureaucracy.McWilliams writes of the pressures upon women in Northern Irelandstating existing from day to day in the North can often become anintolerable strain for women. Not only must they provide a reasonablestandard of living for their kids, but they ha ve the additional anxietyof worrying about husbands and children when they are out of the home.The years of the troubles have added to their pressures and manyrespond y using tranquillisers or smoking excessively (Hughes 1991,p93). Women in Northern Ireland have played a leading role in anti-povertycampaigns, a significant political role which tends to be overlooked bymedia, church leaders and politicians. Such groups have remainednon-hierarchical and have refused to let single individuals becomesolely identified with their campaigns. The non-hierarchical structurehas provided the supportive type of environment that women require andeach group has become knowledgeable about the particular issue underscrutiny. Often the women have maintained links after individualcampaigns have been dissolved. Northern Ireland feminists have played apart in various campaigns and community projects over the last fewdecades. Many cut their political teeth in the civil rights movementsof the 1960s and 1970s and had their first dealings with other feministmovements. Female students at Queens University held a public meetingin1975 which formed an action group with the aim of bringing the roleof women in Northern Ireland into line wit h that of their sisters inBritain (Hughes 1991, p93) and went on to form the Northern IrelandWomens Rights Movement which successfully campaigned to bring the SexDiscrimination Act to Northern Ireland. There are of course issues that divide womens groups in NorthernIreland. Many are related to the national question, which as in allareas of politics in the province, remain difficult to overcome.Whether groups are based on single issues such as Womens Aid or theRape and Incest Line, or more generic groups such as the Derry, Belfastor Falls Road Womens Centres, the political affiliations of membersmay be surreptitiously agued in order to clarify the line that theymight take on the national question. The sheer weight of issues aroundthe constitution and security in Northern Ireland make it near onimpossible for the issue to be ignored. Disputes have occurred between,for example, the Relatives Action Committee and Women AgainstImperialism (which largely supports Sinn Fein) and other womens groupssuch as the Belfast Womens Collective and the Northern Ireland WomensRights Movement. The Belfast Womens Collective argued that it wasvital to work in as wide a range as possible, including area s which maynot initially meet with a big response because they challengetraditional political and religious beliefs (Hughes 1991, p95). TheRelatives Action Committee, on the other hand, organising around thewithdrawal of political statues for the H Block prisoners took the viewthat the campaign about prisons should be central. Regardless of divisions within womens movements in Northern Ireland,the fact remains that the there is a level of oppression caused by theunique nature of politics in the province. Many women arepsychologically scarred by the deaths of or injury to loved ones. Manyothers are emotionally burnt out by the years of armed troops presenton the streets. Women on both sides of the sectarian divide have seenthe destruction of family life when family members are arrested underthe Prevention of Terrorism Act and possibly held for long periodswithout trial. Women visiting husbands and son in prison have beensubjected to degrading and humiliating strip searches. They live infear for the lives of their children and have had the constant worrythat they will be caught in crossfire, caught up in a riot or killed byan explosion. On top of all of these factors, women have also had totackle continuing economic exploitation and sexual oppression. Women in Northern Ireland have had to endure an ingrained culture ofconservative sexism that emanates both from the UK and the Republic ofIreland. They have had to fight for equality of opportunity in theworkplace interestingly, the Equal Opportunities Commission, which isknown to play a more active role in womens lives than its GBcounterpart, was almost abolished in Northern Ireland (Hughes 1991,p96). An influential factor in the under representation of women in NorthernIreland politics has been the traditional assumption of gender rolesand values held by many within the province. These powerful politicaland cultural restraints support the theory that the lack of women inpolitics is due to supply rather than demand factors the electoratehas little problem with female candidates, it is getting women intoposition as candidates for public office that is largely the problem. There is general support amongst the Northern Ireland public for womento be involved in politics and indeed this support has grown steadilythroughout the 1990s and the development of the Belfast Agreement. Oneof the key questions included in the 2002 Northern Ireland Life andTimes Survey was did respondents think that the greater number of womenin politics since the formation of the Northern Ireland Assembly makethings better or worse in Northern Ireland politics? Whilst 44 per centof respondents remained neutral on the question, 41 per cent thought ithad made things better, with only 14 per cent thinking it had madethings worse (NI Life and Times Survey 2002). Attitudes towards therole of women in politics shifted markedly from the survey completed adecade earlier. In 1991, only one fifth of men felt that at least onehalf of senior government posts should be held by women. By 2002 thisfigure had doubled to 40 per cent, with support from women rising from38 per cent to 50 per cent (L ife and Times Survey 2002). Research carried out in 1993 sought to use the experience of womencouncillors within Northern Ireland to attempt to gauge exactly why sofew women were involved in politics at the time. In 1989, only 60 ofthe 566 district councillors were women, equating to a mere 10.6 percent (Wilford et al 1993, p341). Following changes after direct rulewas introduced in 1972, many functions of local government had beenreplaced by intermediate bodies appointed by the Secretary of State forNorthern Ireland. This situation reduced the tiers of local governmentwith Wilford et al commenting Thus, aspiring politicians enjoy anextremely limited opportunity to run for elected office (Wilford et al1993, p343). In addition, council meetings throughout the 1980s wouldoften be used by political parties to argue out their constitutionaldifferences rather than focussing on the relevant issues of localpolitics the symbolic value of politics in Northern Ireland helps toexplain the paucity of women. Interviews wit h women councillorsrevealed six main reasons that they believed explained the small numberof women in Northern Ireland politics psychological, familial,organisational, functional, patriarchal and systematic. All have somerelevance. Psychological reasons included a simple lack of self-esteem felt bywomen. The vast majority of women councillors had been prompted orasked to stand for election by other members rather than have theconfidence to stand on their own initiative. It seems exceptional forwomen to deem themselves eligible for candidature, yet this is setagainst a backdrop where with relatively few people willing to standfor election in local politics and being successful would be seeminglyunproblematic. One SDLP councillor commented on the issue: it neveroccurred to me to standwe (women) had the traditional view that wewere the back up for men: making the tea and the like (Wilford et al1993 p344). Familial reasons were most cited reason for non-participation of womenin politics and reaffirm the ideas of traditional cultural valuescontributing to the role of women in Northern Ireland. There is a cleardifferential in the assumed responsibility of men and women for childrearing in Northern Ireland and this impacts strongly on theopportunity for women to enter into public life. At the very least, astrong and supportive partner is needed by women looking to go intopolitics, yet in addition to this it would appear that many women inNorthern Ireland do not simply put family responsibilities firstbecause that is their assumed role many believe that they actuallyshould put their family first and postpone any political aspirationsuntil their children have reached post-school age. It should also benoted that childcare facilities in Northern Ireland were poor duringthe 1980s and 1990s, a further complication for women that wanted toenter into politics. Organisational reasons for women councillors are similar reasonscommonly cited by women MPs in the UK Parliament the unsocial hoursthat politician are required to work. Councillors in Northern Irelandfound that childcare made it difficult for them to attend councilbusiness scheduled during the day. At the time of the survey, Sinn Feinwas the only political party in Northern Ireland that paid thechildcare expenses of its councillors (wilford et al 1993, p344). Patriarchal reasons for the limited involvement of women in localpolitics in Northern Ireland are based around the attitude of malecouncillors towards their female counterparts. One councillorinterviewed stated: Youre a thorn as a female councillor. Men dontwant you there; theyd prefer it to be all male. They want to be thedominant ones in the council; its true everywhere (Wilford et alp344). Mnay of the women councillors interviewed felt that they werenot taken seriously because of their sex and this was a hugedisincentive to continuing to take an active role in politics. Manyreferred to the cultural belief ingrained in Northern Ireland about awomans place and that the arena of politics was very much a mansworld. There is evidence that women were ghettoised into certaincommittees that were less important and more focussed on what weredeemed to be womens issues home safety committees serve as anexample. Again, the partisanship of politics in Northern Ireland has tobe seen as a facto r here some of the issues likely to be raised bywomen in particular, like pre-school places, education and the NHS,have a tendency to take a back seat to constitutional and securityissues. Finally, under the label of patriarchal concerns were genuineconcerns of sexual harassment within the arena of council politics.Some female councillors reported patronising language as well as outand out harassment. Systematic and functional reasons for non-participation are also given.The lack of power held by local government in Northern Ireland prior tothe Belfast Agreement has been a disincentive women are deterred fromsacrificing family life simply due to the fact that there is relativelylittle to do in local politics and little opportunity to instigateeffective change. For the more ambitious women, local government is notseen as a step on the way to better things and many women see the listsof men waiting to become MPs and simply assume that they have littlechance of ever doing so. A final systematic reason for women stayingout of politics is the actual physical risk involved. It is not unheardof for Northern Ireland councillors to be targeted or even murdered byparamilitaries. Much of the research carried out with female councillors supports thetheory that it is indeed supply rather than demand that limits thenumber of women involved in politics in Northern Ireland. With onlythree women MPs being elected between 1972 and 1990 (Wilford et al1993, p345) there is clearly a problem in attracting candidates. In looking at the demand for women in politics, whilst there isevidence that the public has a growing desire to see women involved inpolitics, it is also important to examine the reasons that people inNorthern Ireland think that there are relatively few women involved.The 2002 Life and Times Survey asked for explanations as to why thereare so few women in politics: What is noticeable from this research is that the main factors appearto be based on a conscious choice made by women rather thandiscrimination against them. Women not putting themselves forward ascandidates and putting their families before their political aspirationappear to be more decisive factors than a view that women do not havethe interest in or capability to succeed in politics. Certainly thisattitude has hardened during he 1990s. Whilst in the 1991 survey womensaw the reason for a lack of women as a mixture of barriers andinclination, by 2002 the most important reasons are clearly womens owninclinations and choices. Another important perception is that aroundwhether or not people assume that women candidates lose votes in boththe 1991 and 2002 surveys, only around one third of respondents thoughtthat this was the case. One of the obvious solutions to the fact that there are proportionatelyfew women involved inpolitics in Northern Ireland would be theintroduction of positive discrimination policies by the major parties.Howver, whilst there appears to be a view that women involve themselvesin the political process and be encouraged to do so, there is littleevidence that parties should actually be required to blance theircandidate lists with similar numbers of men and women. When questionedas to whether political parties should be required to put forward aproportion of women candidates, only 19 per cent of respondents agreed 17 per cent of men and 21 per cent of women (Life and Times Survey2002). The more common view was that political parties should beencouraged to put forward a proportion of women candidates 55 percent agreed with this (52 per cent of men and 57 per cent of women).The survey also asked whether the parties should put more resourcestowards the campaign of women candidates than men ca ndidates: this metwith a slightly more positive response with 33 per cent of men and 45per cent of women agreeing that more resources should be assigned towomen candidates. A further indicator that there is sufficient demandfor women politicians came from the questions asking respondents tochoose four attributes they would most like to see in Northern Irelandpoliticians and the attributes that they would then use to describeboth male and female politicians. Clearly, the Northern Ireland see women candidates as most likely tohave the attributes that they see as desirable. Whilst male politiciansare seen largely as aggressive, ruthless and crafty, female politiciansare seen as more likely to be honest, approachable and willing tocompromise. Attitudes in Northern Ireland towards women politician are generallyfavourable. These attitudes have noticeably become more positive since1991 and voters are now looking to parties to present them with morewomen candidates both in the Northern Ireland Assembly and atWestminster. Whilst barriers to women entering politics remain, theyappear to have been diluted over the last 10-15 years and whilst thereis still some discrimination against women in politics this haslessened. Perhaps most importantly of all in terms of attitudes towardswomen in politics, there appears to be a consensus that the qualitiesthat women bring to political life are closer to the qualitiesidentified in an ideal candidate or representative than are of thoseof men in politics. Other research on specific questions about the role of women inpolitics gives a good insight into the attitudes of the NorthernIreland electorate. Surveys On line asked respondents what proportionof senior government posts should be held by women. Male Female % % A majority 2 3 About half 18 35 At least some 47 38 Nodefinite proportion 31 21 None 2 2 This would suggest that theelectorate is generally happy to see women holding some of the mostimportant posts in government. Again, this would suggest that there isno problem in terms of demand for women to be involved in politics inNorthern Ireland. Opinions of the general involvement of women onpolitics give a similar picture. Asked about women being elected to anational assembly, respondents felt that there should be: Again the broad consensus appears to be in favour of women beinginvolved in politics. Research indicates a slight imbalance in thatwomen appear to be more strongly in favour of a greater political role,but men also are broadly in favour of womens involvement The attitudes towards women in politics in Northern Ireland stronglysupport the theory that it is supply rather than demand that restrictsthe role of women in politics across the province. Certainly voters areon the whole not prejudiced against women candidates, and whilsttraditional values may be upheld by a proportion of the population,there is little to suggest that voters in Northern Ireland woulddeliberately turn their backs on female candidates. It would appearthat the demand for women politician is there the difficulty isovercoming traditional values held by women themselves to provide thesupply. Party politics in Northern Ireland and the way in which women relate tothe parties have to be seen in a different light to party politics inthe rest of the United Kingdom. The sway that nationalism and loyalismhave over party politics in Northern Ireland inevitably relegate otherissues to a position of secondary importance. The close relationshipbetween party politics and paramilitarism that has existed for so longhas been advantageous to men whilst detrimental to women. Feminism haslargely taken a backseat to the constitutional goals of politicalparties, with Wilford and Galligan suggesting that feminists inparticular, have discovered that their agendas have been, and are,tolerated only to the extent that they acknowledge the primacy ofmutually exclusive constitutional goals (Galligan et al 1999, p170). Some of the figures on party membership paint a more positive pictureon womens political involvement than do statistics on women appearingas candidates or representatives. Whilst only 1.6 per cent women and2.1 per cent of men in 1996 belonged to a political party, some partiesreported high proportions of women as members. The Democratic Unionists(DUP) and the Alliance Party (APNI) reported that 60 per cent and 50per cent of their members respectively were women, whilst the UlsterUnionist Party (UUP) with 42 per cent, The Social Democratic and LabourParty (SDLP) with 47 per cent and Sinn Fein 47 per cent (Galligan et al1999, p170) also showed healthy membership figures amongst women. It ishowever the roles that woman play within their parties that is theissue. Only the ANLI and the SDLP have been chaired by women and awoman has led none of the major parties. The difficulties faced by women in exerting influence within theirparties are reflected by the feelings of neglect felt by some femaleparty members. One female Ulster Unionist councillor commenting on herpartys commitment to the concerns of women states, policies on womenare virtually non-existent. Of all the parties they are way down thelist. Lip service only is paid to what women do, its pretty well amale preserve, its an uphill battle whilst a Sinn Fein councillorechoed the sentiments stating the issues that affect women are buried.A lot arent dealt with because men think they are womens problems(Galligan et al 1999, p173). A more detailed look at the policies ofindividual parties helps to explain the position of women in politicsacross Northern Ireland as a whole. The UUP has its own womens council (the UWUC) that was established in1911 and provides 155 members for the partys plenary body , the852-member Ulster Unionist Council. This equates to 18 per cent of theplenary body. The partys most important policy making body has beenits executive committee, with 120 members elected by the eighteenparliamentary constituency associations in 1995 this included only 18women (15 per cent). More recently it has established a Womens AffairsCommittee, which consists of eight members notably the committeeremains opposed to any form of positive discrimination to increase thenumbers of women in either party or public office. The partys 1997general election manifesto made a clear commitment to merit selectionof candidates as opposed to the introduction of any positivediscrimination policies. The partys record on policies directedspecifically towards women was patchy during the 1990s. Its PolicyStatement on Womens Issues for the 1992 general election for exam plewas only two pages long (Galligan et al 1999, p174). Manifesto pledgesin relation to women have generally centred on equal opportunities inthe workforce, whilst often referring to opportunities for women thatwill tie in with family responsibilities. On a more positive note, theparty has looked to adopt policies that, whilst not aiding women whowish to enter into politics, allow women to more easily utilise theirtalents in the wider community. Family friendly practices by employersare encouraged, along with the introduction of flexible workingpatterns and better provision of nursery care at the workplace. Theparty and in particular its Womens Affairs Committee have also takensteps to address the concerns of older women supporting improvementsin the quality old life for older women through more accessible localservices. The UUP appears to be slowly accepting a change in gender roles whilststill clinging onto the belief that a womans natural place is in thehome. The UUP blends aspects of gender reinforcement with both genderrecognition and gender neutrality, even managing to insert a certainawareness of the need to reconstruct gender roles is the conclusion ofWilford and Gilligan (Gilligan et al 1999, p175) and indeed thissummarises the somewhat confused position of the UUP it realises thatwomen are playing a more prominent role in society, but as yet it isunwilling to allow them access to political influence. The DUP tends to takes more conservative stance in relation to womensissues than the UUP. It has remained opposed to any ideas of positivediscrimination and has had few women as part of the party leadership.Its manifestos in general election prior to the Belfast Agreement paidlittle attention to womens issues the 1992 manifesto contained abrief section on women, whilst the 1997 version ignored them completelyand devoted itself to constitutional matters. Policy commitments havealso been rather vague. The party supports state-subsidised crchefacilities in the workplace and flexible working arrangements forworking mothers, yet has constructed these proposals around theseemingly reluctant proposition that women find themselves in theposition of having to go to work rather than choosing to do so. Thereare further hints of gender reinforcement in other areas of DUP policy.Seeing women as either or victims or potential victims there arepolicies around increased funding for shelters for bat tered wives,fighting pornography and increasing sentences for rapists. The partyhas called for the appointment of more women to the judiciary on thegrounds that they could bring to their job an extra dimension ofsensitivity and understanding (Galligan et al 1999, p176). The overallimpression of DUP policy on women is that it sees itself as a maledominated party with a duty to protect women. It has done relativelylittle to actively promote womens entry into politics. The Ulster Democratic Party (UDP), the political wing of theparamilitary Ulster Defence Association has long had a party hierarchydominated by males, yet in some of its policies shows more of anawareness and willingness to address issues than other major parties inNorthern Ireland. Like the DUP, it has supported the provision ofworkplace nurseries and the introduction of flexible working patternsfor women, whether married or single. It also supports equal employmentopportunities for single mothers, equal pay for equal work and equalrights and benefits for both full time and part time workers. The UDPhas also been supportive of increased training and educationalopportunities for women whilst opposing reductions in social securitypayments to single mothers. It has also supported the availability offree comprehensive family planning facilities and has supported aspectsof the 1967 Abortion Act. Certainly amongst its loyalist rivals, theUDP stands out as the party most in tune with gender recognition andmoves away from gender stereotyping in it policies. Its has yet tointroduce preferential treatment for women in selection of candidatesfor election, but its more open-minded policies suggest that it is aparty in which women could eventually flourish. The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) on the other hand has includedrhetoric in its recent manifestos calling for the inclusion of women inpolitics. Its 1997 manifesto stated that women have a role to play atall levels of political activity and encouraged women to putthemselves forward as party delegates, officers and electioncandidates. Whether the party is genuinely serious about this however,remains in doubt. The same manifesto, whilst dealing comprehensivelywith constitutional and security issues, included few details onwomens issues and the male dominated leadership suggests that its callfor women to be involved may have been cosmetic rather than a genuineappeal. The Alliance Party has had more success integrating women into theparty hierarchy. Its organisational structure is based on twenty-threelocal associations by the late 1990s, six of them were chaired bywomen (Galligan et al 1999, p176). Whilst by no means an equal split,the Alliance Party has at least moved a proportion of women intoinfluential party roles. Of the 23 associations, ten had women assecretaries and a further ten as treasurers. Its manifestos have givensupport to the representation of women. Whilst its 1997 manifestoincluded only half a page on womens issues it did commit to supportfor equality of opportunity for women and so supporting EU directiveson social and economic equality for women. The Alliance Party has alsoacknowledged that womens issues are ignored because they are notrepresented in the places where they can argue for them (Galligan etal 199, p177), again a position that supports the supply rather thandemand theory in relation to women in politics in Norther n Ireland. Nationalist parties Sinn Fein and the SDLP appear to how more of acommitment to ensuring that women play an active role with partystructures. Sinn Fein had from the early 1990s adopted gender basedpositive discrimination policies that guaranteed a 40 per cent quota ofwomen on its national executive. The SDLP followed suit in 1995following a motion passed at its 1994 conference calling for aprogramme of affirmative action to ensure that half of the posts withinthe party were filled by women. The actual outcome within the SDLP wasthat 40 per cent of positions on the national executive were to be heldby women as well as two places on its General Council which hadresponsibility for developing and overseeing the implementation of newpolicies (Galligan et al 1999, p172). Both parties have furthersupported their positive discrimination policies with otherinitiatives. Both deliver training and development courses that aretargeted at encouraging women to make themselves available for bothpart y and public office positions. Such policies are quite radical inthe context of Northern Ireland, certainly in comparison to theattitudes of the other main parties. It should be noted, that evenamongst the supporters of Sin Fein and the SDLP, there is notwidespread support for positive discrimination .As Wilford and Galliganconclude Not only do employment and promotion quotas for women findonly minority support within both the general population and amongstparty identifiers but public opinion in Northern Ireland also regardssex discrimination as less of a problem than that base on religion,disability and age (Galligan et al 1999, p172). SDLP manifestos and party documents have been broadly supportive ofwomens rights. Its 1997 manifesto included a section dedicated toreal equality and partnership in relation to women and its has shownsupport for the implementation of a minimum wage, the adoption of theSocial Charter, the provision of universally available childcare andpositive discrimination tailored at promoting opportunity for women inthe employment market. The party also lent its support for a review oflegislation on equal pay and discrimination and called for newlegislation on sex offences in addition to supporting theimplementation of the strategic objectives on womens health agreed atthe 1995 UN world conference on women held in Beijing. A party documententitled Half the Future also specifically addressed the issue ofwomens representation, suggesting that the involvement of women inpolitics was beneficial to the overall balance of party policy. Againsupporting the idea of positive discrimination, the document a rguesthat the lack of involvement of women in public office led to theomission of their priorities and world view from the processes oflegislation and administration (Wilford et al 1999, p178) and proposedthe creation of a minister for equality who would in particularencouragement pro-active gender-equality policies in the employmentsector. Sinn Fein has been the party that has spoken out most openly on womensissues. Its 1997 manifesto included the statement Women in Irelandsuffer from systematic and institutionalised sexual discrimination(Gilligan et al 1999,p179) and stated its aim to achieve equality ofcitizenship for women. However, in what can be as interpreted as awatering down of its rhetoric, Sinn Fein has committed itself topositive discrimination as under the 1989 Fair Employment Act whichsanctions the applications of goals and timetables, rather than actualquotas in relation to women seeking employment. Within the workplaceSinn Fein calls for equal pay for work of equal value and for reformsof the education system to combat sexism and gender stereotyping. Incommon with the SDLP it has called for the legal extension for thedefinition of rape and for the development of a more multifacetedapproach to eradicate violent crimes against women. Sinn Fein has alsosupported statutory funding for rape crisis centres and improvedtraining for legal and medical personnel on the effects of rape. Interms of womens health it has called for more resources to be madeavailable for preventative medicine and for better provision of healthcare for pregnant women. Finally, Sinn Fein has sanctioned directpositive discrimination in relation to funding for womensorganisations and women-only community based courses. The Northern Ireland Womens Coalition (NIWC) was formed in 1996following the announcement by the British and Irish governments thatmulti-party talks were to commence on the future of Northern Ireland.Organisers of the NIWC saw the potential for the talks as massivelysignificant but have written that an active sense of being excludedfrom the future was being felt by many Northern Irish women (Fearon1999, p2). Undoubtedly, many women felt that the negotiations would bealmost exclusively male and feared for their future representationunder whatever agreement was reached. As Fearon writes NorthernIreland does not have a good track record in electing women (Fearon1999, p3). One major issue for the NIWC to overcome was the fact that the womensmovement within Northern Ireland had remained divided along sectarianlines. There had been rare examples of unity, for example bothcommunities cooperating in 1985 to lobby against a Social SecurityBill, but generally division had been a factor that had limited theeffectiveness of womens movements across Northern Ireland. Politicalinvolvement with one of the major parties had offered little for womenin terms of progressing womens issues. Fearon accurately summarisesthe situation prior to the formation of the NIWC stating moreover by1996,a significant number of women in Northern Ireland had come to feelthat to join one of the traditional nationalist or unionist parties wasto sell your soul (Fearon 1999, p12). The NIWC appealed to the electorate in Northern Ireland on the groundsthat, by electing women, voters can move away from sectarian basedpolitics and achieve the required changes to bring about politicalaccommodation and build a peaceful society. It moved away from thetraditional fixed positions of the constitution held by the establishedpolitical parties and, buoyed by the support of the electorate for anincrease in the numerical representation of women has campaigned on theplatform that women can make a difference. Its manifestos have includedsome women specific policies, yet the main aim of the coalition hasbeen to increase the number of women engage in politics. Whether theNIWC can ever establish itself as a genuine political force remains tobe seen. It has played a part at then negotiating table during talks onthe Belfast Agreement, yet whilst the electorate maybe disaffected withthe established parties and keen to se more women in politics, whenelections come around it is still difficult for Northern Ireland votersto move away from trenched constitutional and security positions.Nonetheless, the NIWC has been a positive force in establishing womenat the heart of politics in Northern Ireland. It is difficult to draw broad conclusions as to the overall attitudesof the political parties in Northern Ireland on the inclusion of women,such is the wide scope of positions that they hold. There have been,and remain, several obstacles in the way of equality of opportunity forwomen and the parties have used different approaches to tackle them.There has been a general consensus that there must be more equality ofopportunity for women, but the parties have differed in how this shouldbe done and no as of yet have adopted full endorsement of positivediscrimination in both the spheres of employment and politicalopportunity. The major unionist parties in particular still tend tofocus more on the domestic and familial roles of women, with Wilfordand Gilligan surmising that there may, in effect, be an ideologicallink here between their conservatism on the issue of the union andtheir attitudes towards women (Gilligan et al 1999, p181). Somewhat incontrast, the more social democratic, even s ocialist views of the likesof the SDLP and Sinn Fein create to opportunity for a greater pursuitof equality of opportunity for women. The general conclusion that canbe made is that there is a differential between what can be seen as thenominal right wing and left wing parties in Northern Ireland. The moretraditional parties such as the UUP and DUP provide what Wilford andGilligan term clear evidence for the perpetuation of traditionalgender roles within their organisations and in terms of public policy.Each shares the experience of constructing or defending a primarilynational identity, which implies the subordination of womens concernsto the overarching demands of shaping perceptions of the nation(Gilligan at al 1999, p182). Sinn Fein and the SLP on the other handappear more open to the idea of quotas and positives discrimination toensure the inclusion of women in politics in Northern Ireland. Groupssuch as the NIWC appear to provide a more positive platform for womensparticipation in politics, yet its failure to support polices ofpositive discrimination reflect the public view that whilst more womenin politics is desirable, the issue should not be forced. As Wilfordand Galligan conclude on the issue of political parties and theirattitudes towards women its difficulty is, of course, that thearticulation of gender and communal inclusiveness in a deeply dividedsociety is drowned out by the clamour of competing nationalisms(Galligan et al 1999 p182). The Belfast Agreement was quite explicit in its call for the inclusionof all within the political process in Northern Ireland. It specifiedin its section on rights, safeguards and equality of opportunity thatNorthern Ireland should offer the right to equal opportunity in allsocial and economic activity, regardless of class, creed, disability,gender or ethnicity. Election results since the Agreement was reachedhave shown at least some positive signs. Women have been elected againas MPs to represent Northern Ireland constituencies and very graduallywomen are beginning to be include in the leadership of the majorparties. Nonetheless, woken remain proportionally under-representedacross Northern Ireland. The reasons for this are diverse. Northern Ireland has clung on totraditional values as to the role of women both before and after theBelfast Agreement. The perception remains that the womans place is inthe home and this plays a large part in the under-representation ofwomen the fact is that many women themselves continue to take thisview and put any political aspirations as secondary to their familialrole the supply of women into politics remains hampered by thisfactor. The political parties also play a large parting maintained theunder-representation of women. Whilst womens groups are able todevelop prominent roles within their communities, party structuresremain male-dominated. Until affirmative action policies in terms ofselecting candidates are adopted, women will remain in the minority inthe political arena. Women in democratic regimes across the world have been largelyunder-represented. Womens groups can be formed to campaign or lobby onparticular issues or indeed simply to further their own role, but as inNorthern Ireland, real proof of genuine political influence can onlyreally come through a much larger representation of women withinlegislative bodies and within the hierarchy of political parties. Women have been consistently involved in politics in Northern Ireland,but largely in community-based projects or on the periphery of the realdecision-making processes. Women who have played an active role at theheart of Northern Irelands political arena are few and far between.The sectarian and paramilitary aspect to politics in Northern Irelandhas obviously disadvantaged women. Councillors interviewed speak ofgenuine fears of political involvement alum with frustration at thefutility of politics in an arena so dominated by longstandingconstitutional and security issues. Certainly, there is a unique aspectto politics in Northern Ireland that appears to make the possibility ofwomen having significant influence even more difficult than it is inother democracies. The issue of supply and demand is often discussed in relation to theinvolvement of women in politics in Northern Ireland. The traditionalviews seen to be held my many of the population would at first glanceappear to suggest that there is little demand for women at the heart ofpolitics and that this is a determining factor. The actual evidencesuggests otherwise. Voters in Northern Ireland are actually quite keento see women involved in politics. Voters both male and female have ageneral perception that women in politics will be a positive force andwill instigate change for the better. Where voters draw the linehowever, is on the issue of positive discrimination. The people ofNorthern Ireland would like to see more women involved in politics, butdo not support affirmative action as a way to secure this. As a result, the organisation of the major political parties remains amajor stumbling block to a Northern Ireland in which women and men arenumerically balanced. Some of the parties remain inherently exist they may have policies for women but these are largely based aroundhelping women to uphold what is seen as their traditional role athome raising a family. Certainly within the more conservative partiesthere is little in the way of encouragement for women to put themselvesforward as candidates either for election for public office or forinfluential roles within the party. Within what would be termed as themore progressive parties, there is a greater acknowledgment of genderrecognition and the fact that womens issues are important, but still,the balance of power remains very much with men. The likes of Sinn Feinand the SDLP place a greater influence on womens issues and indeedtheir rhetoric indicate a desire to see more women involved in thehigher echelons of politics. Proof that th e rhetoric can be translatedinto action however remains to be seen. These parties have taken stepsto increase the number of women candidates and women within theleadership, but it would seem that only policies of positivediscrimination will actually establish an equal spit along genderlines. Northern Ireland, in spite of the progress made through the BelfastAgreement remains a fairly traditional and conservative part of theworld. Outright sexism maybe diminishing but there remains anundercurrent of opinion that politics is a mans world. It will be along and difficult process to change this perception. Nonetheless, theattitudes of many within Northern Ireland do give hope for women inNorthern Ireland that either have political aspirations of their own orsimply wish to see more women representing them. There is a demand forwomen to be involved in politics in Northern Ireland. There is a demandfor women to take up roles in the decision and policy making apparatusof the major political parties and there is a demand for women asrepresentatives both within the Northern Ireland Assembly and atWestminster. What needs to happen is for the political parties andwomen in Northern Ireland to find a way to actually supply women tomeet the demand. The most obvious way is through polici es of positivediscrimination but there are other options. Women councillors havegiven a number of reasons as to why they feel there are few womeninvolved in politics. Somehow, these barriers have to be overcome.Women need to overcome the traditional culture within Northern Irelandand develop a stronger inclination to become involved in politics. Thepath to equal representation of men and women may be difficult, but ifwomens voices are truly to be heard within the province, there has tobe a concerted effort by Northern Irelands women to push themselvesforward to the forefront of the political arena and overcome theestablished barriers. Fearon Kate, The Story of the Northern Ireland Womens Congress, Blackstaff Press, Belfast 1999 Galligan Y, Ward E Wilford R, Contesting Politics in Northern Ireland North and South, Westview Press 1999 Hughes E (ed) Culture and Politics in Northern Ireland, Open University Press, Buckingam 1993 Leonard D Morytimore R, Elections in Britain a voters guide, Palgrave Press,Basingstoke 2002 Norris Pippa, Britain Votes 2001, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2002 Northern Ireland Life and Time Survey 2002 Wilford R, Miller R, Bell Y Donaghue F, In Their Own Voices:Women Councillors inNorthern Ireland, Public Administration vol 73 1993