Public Consultation on behalf of the Advisory Committee on the Representation of Women and Women's Stories

On 7th March 2024, Minister Catherine Martin T.D. announced the appointment of a new advisory committee, chaired by Dr Sandra Collins, focusing on the representation of women and women’s experiences in all of their diversity, within the national cultural institutions and the national collections. The committee will make policy recommendations to assist the Government in enhancing the representation of women’s diverse experiences, roles and voices. As part of its work, the advisory committee will also consider the feasibility of options for a dedicated presentation of women’s stories.

We have seen, in recent years, the positive impact of cultural engagement, outreach initiatives, and public events, in documenting and presenting for broad public audiences, women’s experiences and contribution to the State. We recognise, however, that imbalances remain in the representation of women’s voices and experiences, where the diversity of women’s lives is under-represented or not featured at all.

The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media is commencing a broad public consultation process on behalf of the Advisory Committee, to encourage a public conversation around how we record and represent the diverse experiences and voices of women in our history, particularly historically marginalised women. This consultation will assist the Advisory Committee in considering the recommendations that they will make, to enhance the representation of women in Irish cultural organisations and in the national collections. We are seeking the views of key stakeholders, including diverse professional, advocacy, representative, and community groups, as well as other interested parties on an all-island basis and internationally.

We hope that this consultation process will result in a rich diversity of perspectives and ideas, which will assist the Advisory Committee in progressing their work, culminating in the presentation of their recommendations to Government.

Your views and suggestions are very welcome.

1) Through a survey

Please submit your submission before 5pm, Monday 30 September 2024 via the online survey link here.

2) Other formats

You can also make your submission through Irish Sign Language or pre-recorded audio-visual formats, or other formats. If you have any queries about making a submission, please contact us at womensstories@tcagsm.gov.ie.

The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media may publish on the Department's website submissions received that it considers appropriate for publication. The Department retains sole discretion in this regard.

The Department will share submissions received with the Advisory Committee. Where appropriate, the Department may share submissions with relevant Government Departments or other stakeholders, to promote an integrated, inclusive and collaborative approach in the consideration of the submissions received.

If you do not consent to the sharing of your submission with relevant Government Departments and other stakeholders, please state this clearly in your submission or by ticking the appropriate box in the survey.

Accordingly, please state clearly or tick the appropriate box in the survey if you would like your submission to be treated as confidential by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

The names of interested parties who make submissions will be published unless you ask us not to publish your name. For submissions made by or on behalf of organisations, we will publish only the name of the organisation. We will not publish individual contact details.

The views expressed in the submissions are the views of the author and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. The publication of submissions on the Department's website does not imply that the Department endorses their content. The Department accepts no legal liability arising from any views expressed in these submissions.

By sending a submission, the authors agree to these conditions.