Maria Walsh MEP hosted an event, Thriving Mná, on July 3rd in Galway. It was the first official event hosted in the West of Ireland since Ireland assumed the Presidency of the Council of Europe on July 1st. The event brought together over 250 women to discuss issues including the Pay Transparency Directive and Female Entrepreneurship. Denise Callan attended on behalf of Momentum.
The event began with an opportunity for delegates to network over coffee during registration before Maria Walsh MEP addressed the gathering with opening remarks, outlining her work at both constituency and Parliamentary level, the impact it has, and how people can feed into and become informed about that work.
Next, Joanne Sweeney, CEO of the Digital Training Institute, hosted two Panel Discussions. The first was on the EU Pay Transparency Directive, and attendees heard from Corrinne Hasson, Executive Director of the National Women’s Council of Ireland, Meave McAlwee, Director of Employee Relations at IBEC and Lesley Tully, CEO of Fintech company Penny. It was an interesting discussion on the gender pay gap, the expected impact of the new directive and what women can do to ensure their personal financial security.
In the second panel discussion, Fiona Parfrey, Co-founder of Riley, Karen Ronan, CEO of Galway Chamber of Commerce and Aisling Kelly-Hunter, owner of WB’s Coffee House and the Sligo Oyster Experience, discussed female entrepreneurship. They shared personal stories and their experiences as well as challenges encountered and how they have overcome them. Both panel discussions were followed by engaging question and answer sessions with the audience.
The event was closed by Laura Dowling, The Fabulous Pharmacist, who addressed some serious issues about women’s health in her uniquely entertaining style.
For Denise, it was a great opportunity to share news of the work Momentum is doing, leading communications for the Horizon Europe ARENAS project, especially the research being done on gender related extremist narratives, and the remedial actions that are being proposed.
