Monica McWilliams & Pearl Sagar

Delegates of Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition during the Multi-Party Peace Negotiations / Peace Activists

*Pearl Sagar & Monica McWilliams. Credit: Pacemaker*

In 1996, fearful that women’s voices would not be considered by the politicians negotiating plans for Northern Ireland’s future, a collection of women’s groups decided to lobby the government to allow a women’s network to be included in the peace talks. From this, the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition (NIWC) was formed whose main principles were: equality, human rights, and inclusion. After just six weeks of existence, the NIWC secured two seats for the All-Party Talks which began on 10 June. The only women at the table were the two elected to represent the NIWC – Monica McWilliams and Pearl Sagar.

Monica McWilliams was born on 28 April 1954 in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim but grew up in Kilrea, Co. Derry. She graduated from Queen’s University in Belfast and would go on to eventually become Professor of Women’s Studies and Social Policy at the University of Ulster.

Throughout the 1980s Monica sat as the Chair of Gingerbread’s Social Policy Committee – an organisation ‘working to secure and protect equality and social inclusion for one parent families’ and often also spoke on behalf of the Northern Ireland Poverty Lobby on poor housing, unemployment, and dependence on social welfare.

In early 1996, Monica and a friend, Avila Kilmurray, discussed the upcoming peace talks and lamented the fact that due to the lack of women in politics, women’s voices would not be heard or considered by the politicians negotiating plans for Northern Ireland’s future. Working closely with the Northern Ireland Women’s European Platform – a group that campaigned for women’s equal civic and political rights – Monica and Avila began lobbying the Northern Ireland Office for a gender-proofed party list system by which men and women were alternated in equal proportions on their lists. They also sought funds for non-party organisations to be included in the peace talks, as it was widely acknowledged that women were particularly active in community-based groups and their voices and experiences would be of value. Their proposals were largely ignored by the British Government.

At a meeting on 17 April 1996 which was attended by representatives of up to 200 women’s groups, it was decided to lobby the government to allow a women’s network to be included in the talks. Much to their surprise, the government agreed to allow it, and the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition was formed. They had just six weeks to mount a campaign and three weeks to choose candidates to put forward. The NIWC quickly set about looking for candidates to come forward and encouraged the inclusion of women from varying communities and identities by refusing to take a stance on the constitutional question. While they managed to field 70 candidates from both nationalist and unionist backgrounds, from working- and upper-class communities, they were met with some hostility by mainly Unionist politicians. For example, Peter Robinson of the DUP said that ‘they are not representative of the decent Ulster woman that I speak to.’ Despite everything, after just six weeks of existence, the NIWC secured two seats for the All-Party Talks which began on 10 June 1996 and the only women at the table were the two elected to represent the NIWC – Monica McWilliams and Pearl Sagar.

In the lead up to the All-Party Talks, Monica and Pearl Sagar’s names had been put forward to be the two women at the table. It was decided that Monica and Pearl, the first a respected academic and Catholic and the latter a Protestant social worker who was regarded as a ‘streetfighter’ and someone who would take ‘no nonsense,’ would together be representative of the women of Northern Ireland. As the wife of a British soldier and relative to a policeman who was killed by those Sinn Féin represented, on a very personal level it often was not an easy task for Pearl to meet with and negotiate with the people she did, but she understood that it was necessary for lasting peace and so, she persisted.

*Pearl Sagar by Ashfield Girls High School*

Both Monica and Pearl faced serious sexism and ridicule in the Forum for Dialogue and Understanding which ran alongside the peace talks. They were called ‘silly women’ and told that they should be at home ‘breeding children for Ulster.’ Ian Paisley infamously made mooing noises when Monica stood to speak. In spite of this, Monica and Pearl, and the entire NIWC team, secured very important aspects to the peace agreement; along with integrated education, a civic forum and restitution for victims, the NIWC also included the need for a Bill of Rights, policing and criminal justice reforms as well as issues for sustainable peace in the future. These things were key to the success of the Good Friday agreement which was signed on 10 April 1998.

Following this monumental moment in history, Monica was elected as one of two women (the other being Jane Morrice) of the NIWC members to the Legislative Assembly in Northern Ireland in 1998 and represented South Belfast until 2003. Being a member meant that her role was primarily ‘to scrutinise and make decisions on the issues dealt with by Government Departments and to consider and make legislation.’ She returned to her post as Professor in the University of Ulster in 2003 until she was appointed full-time Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in 2005 and remained so until 2011. Under her leadership the Commission finalised the advice on a Bill of Human Rights for Northern Ireland which was then presented to the Secretary of State and general UK government in 2008. Legislation is still awaited. After running unsuccessfully for Belfast City Council, Pearl became a consultant to the Vital Voices Project, an American international, non-profit organisation that ‘works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women's political participation, and human rights.’

In 2015, Monica was appointed to the Fresh Start Panel on the Disbandment of Paramilitary Organisations in Northern Ireland and subsequently to the Independent Reporting Commission to oversee the recommendations of the Panel report. She was also made chairperson of the Governing Board of Interpeace which is an international organisation for peacebuilding that supports local initiatives promoting peace around the world. She was awarded the John F. Kennedy Library Profile in Courage Award with the other eight signatories of the Northern Ireland peace process in 1998 and the Frank Cousins Peace award in 1999.

Sources:

Gingerbread, online at http://www.gingerbreadni.org/ [accessed 5 June 2019].

Democratic Dialogue, ‘Power, Politics, Positionings – Women in Northern Ireland,’ Report 4, (Oct 1996), p. 4.

Fearon, Kate, Women’s Work: the story of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition, Belfast (1999), pp. 51, 121.

Fearon, Kate and McWilliams, Monica, ‘Swimming against the mainstream: The Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition,’ in Carmel Roulston and Celia Davies (eds), Gender Democracy and Inclusion in northern Ireland, New York (2000).

Wave Goodbye to the Dinosaurs documentary (2019). Dir: Eimhear O'Neill.

Tiffany Danitz, ‘Raising voices for peace in Ireland - Northern Ireland Women's Coalition,’ Insight on the News, 1 December 1997.