2005

MURDER IN NORTH BELFAST LINKED TO LOYALIST FEUD
July 11, 2005- (IAIS) Feuding loyalist paramilitaries in Belfast were today blamed for shooting one man dead and critically wounding another.A 19-year-old was killed by three gunmen who burst into a house in the north of the city and opened fire.He was rushed to hospital from the scene of the attack at Dhu Varren Crescent just after 1.30am local time but died later.A light blue Peugeot 405 car suspected of being used by the killers was found on fire soon afterwards at Cupar Way in the loyalist Shankill area.Hours earlier, a man in his 20s was shot several times in the upper body at Crumlin Road, near Glenbank. Police said he was critically wounded and undergoing emergency treatment.A stretch of the Crumlin Road, one of the main routes into the city center, was closed off as detectives hunted for clues.

BLUE-COLLAR' CAMPAIGN FOR WOMEN
July 5, 2005 (BBC News) A campaign to encourage more Northern Ireland women into male-dominated sectors is getting a £500,000 boost.

UP ANGRY ABOUT RIGHTS BODY MOVE
June 16, 2005 - (BBC) DUP leader Ian Paisley has said he has protested the appointment of Monica McWilliams as the new NI Human Rights chief commissioner with Tony Blair.

PÁDRAIGÍN DRINAN - LAWYER PLOUGHS A LONELY FURROW
June 6, 2005 - (Daily Ireland) Belfast solicitor extraordinaire Pádraigín Drinan still can’t decide whether to go to Craigavon Civic Centre in Co Armagh on Tuesday when the inquiry begins into the murder of her close friend Rosemary Nelson. It’s not that she doesn’t want the inquiry to start. She does — desperately. But, along with others, she has growing concerns about its powers and independence.

A Troubled Tradition; can Irish women keep a place for peace?
May/June 2005 -(Clamor Bowling Green) In the spring of 1996, "The Troubles" of Northern Ireland had already claimed 3,000 lives, despite numerous negotiations and ceasefire attempts. The most recent manifestation of a centuries-old conflict between Protestants and Catholics, the time known as "The Troubles" began after the initially peaceful civil rights movements of the 1960s turned increasingly violent, and carried on well into the 1990s.

WOMEN 'PUSHED INTO GIRLS JOBS'
March 31, 2005 -(BBC News) Just 1% of construction workers are female, the EOC says. Girls are being pushed into jobs thought of as traditional to their sex, a new report claims.

'ONCE WOMEN SANCTION REVOLUTION, THERE'S NO STOPPING IT
March 3, 2005 - (Guardian) It has been just a month since the brutal murder of Robert McCartney, a father of two, by IRA members in a pub in the Short Strand area of Belfast - a month that has seen extraordinary changes. According to reports, on the night of January 30, as McCartney and his friend Brendan Devine lay bleeding in the street, IRA men cleaned up the crime scene and threatened witnesses, who were too intimidated to call an ambulance. In the days immediately following the murder, police questioned people who had been drinking in the pub at the time, who claimed to have seen nothing. So far, so predictable. But then, something happened: in this community of 3,000 staunch republicans, six women defied the IRA. One month on, it looks as though this murder of a man who had no paramilitary connections, might be a real catalyst for change.

2004

Call over violence against women
November 25, 2004 – (BBC) The government should redouble its efforts to end violence against women in Northern Ireland, the Human Rights Commission has said.

Women's prison attacked by human rights body
October 19, 2004 – (IrelandOnline) A damning report into the detention of women and girls in a Northern Ireland prison was issued by the Human Rights Commission there today.

RAPE PROMPTS CLEAN-UP CALLS
August 31, 2004 – (BBC Ireland) The rape of a young woman outside Belfast has led to calls for a clean-up of the area where it took place. Detectives are trying to track down the man responsible for raping the 19-year-old at about 0330 BST on Monday. The attack happened as she was walking along a footway between the Colin Mill Road and the Pantridge Road in Poleglass.

NORTHERN IRELAND WOMEN'S COALITION HOLD PARTY CONFERENCE
June 19, 2004 - (Northern Ireland Women's Coalition) The N.I. Women’s Coalition held their annual conference in June at Manor House, Cultra. It proved to be very successful and forward looking after the disappointments of the previous few months.

Politician, businessman discuss roles in Irish peace process
May 27, 2004 - (Catholic Herald) University professor and former Irish assemblywoman Monica McWilliams spoke to a gathering of Mount Mary College students, community leaders, and members of Milwaukee’s Irish community on Friday, May 21, about her role in the Irish peace process.


2003

WOMEN'S PARTY TO FIGHT ON
December 8, 2003 – (BBC) The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition has decided to remain in politics despite losing its two assembly seats in last month's election.

BIG NAMES MISSING FROM NEW ASSEMBLY
November 28, 2003 – (The Press Association – UK) Some of Northern Ireland’s best known political faces are missing from the new Assembly. The big losers of the election are: …MONICA McWILLIAMS (Women’s Coalition, South Belfast): In the wake of the 1994 ceasefires, Monica McWilliams and Pearl Sagar came to symbolise a new breed of politics in Northern Ireland.

'MIDDLE EAST CAN LEARN FROM NORTHERN IRELAND'
November 17, 2003 – (The Press Association – UK) Northern Ireland’s experience in emerging from conflict could be a model for the Middle East, an international conference being held in Belfast will hear this week… Key areas will be the importance of economic regeneration, the role of women in building peace and the powering of economic development through grass-roots community involvement.

WOMEN'S PARTY WANTS 'SECTARIAN CODE'
November 6, 2003 – (BBC) Politicians should be governed by a code of conduct to deal with sectarian problems at interface areas, the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition has said.

THOUSANDS CALL FOR HELP
October 4, 2003 – (BBC) More than 17,000 women have used a leading support group's help line in the past year…Many of the callers to the Women's Aid telephone help line in Northern Ireland had suffered harrowing domestic abuse.

WOMEN 'VETTED' BY US TROOPS
May 22, 2003 -- (BBC) Women in Northern Ireland who mixed with American soldiers during World War II had their personal morality vetted by US authorities, a study has claimed.

'MORE WOMEN POLITICIANS' WANTED
March 11, 2003 -- (BBC) People in Northern Ireland want to see more female politicians, a survey has suggested.

2001

'ABORTION SHIP' ACTIVISTS BACK DOWN
June 15, 2001 -- (BBC) Activists who sailed into Dublin port aboard an "abortion ship" have said they will not carry out abortions during their visit to Ireland. Members of the Dutch Women on Waves Foundation arrived in Dublin on Thursday on the Aurora, which carries an operating theatre within a converted container attached to its deck.


2000

EQUALITY GUIDES 'A VOICE FOR ALL'
April 1, 2004 – (The Irish News) New guidelines on pursuing equality of opportunity and promoting good relations within public bodies were launched yesterday by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.


1999

MEMBERS OF NORTH'S EQUALITY COMMISSION ARE ANNOUNCED
July 23, 1999 – (Irish Times) The members of the North's new Equality Commission, set up to promote equal opportunities on grounds including religion, race and gender, were announced yesterday.

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