Stormont event highlights experience of women in politics
The Supporting Women in Public Life conference highlighted barriers preventing women entering politics such as caring responsibilities and lack of access to party networks, and how to address these.
The conference was organised by the Assembly’s Women’s Caucus to mark International Women’s Day and brought together female politicians from across the UK and Ireland. It focused on issues women face in politics and how to encourage more women to enter and remain in public life.
At the pre-conference dinner on 4 February 2026, the Head of the Civil Service, Jayne Brady, gave a speech that highlighted the importance of female representation in the public sector.
Brady also outlined the initiatives the civil service has put in place to support, develop, and retain women in leadership roles.
The conference took place on 5 February 2026 and was opened by speeches from junior ministers, Aisling Reilly MLA and Joanne Bunting MLA. They reflected on their own political journeys and offered advice for women at the beginning of theirs.
The first panel session featured leading women from a range of disciplines, including Justice Denise McBride and the CEO of Women in Business NI, Roseann Kelly.
The discussion focused on the challenges faced by women in public life, specifically the disproportionately high level of scrutiny they experience.
This panel also stressed the need for women to support each other and for men to challenge inappropriate behaviour.
The keynote speech was given by Kristina Wilfore, founder of #ShePersisted, an organisation that works to support women in politics who are victims of gendered attacks online.
She introduced the Digital Resilience Toolkit, a resource created to help women enhance personal digital security and develop strategies to respond effectively to hostile or misogynistic content. As well as this, Wilfore emphasised the important role political institutions, parties, and support networks have in creating safer online environments.
The second panel featured members from Elect Her, 50:50 NI, and See Her Elected, organisations that work directly with women considering getting involved in politics. They acknowledged that strong progress has been made in recent years, as the First and deputy First Minister, as well as both junior ministers, are all women.
However, the panellists noted that many women still face barriers to entering politics, including limited access to party networks, caring responsibilities, and concerns about public scrutiny and online abuse.
The conference finished with a panel featuring members of the Youth Assembly, who spoke about their reasons for getting involved in politics and the women who inspired them.
