TONIGHT in Belfast the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition will launch its election campaign and unfurl its purple, white and green flags and ribbons. Derry has already done it, along with other centres right across the region.
The coalition has chosen the colours of the early suffragist movement but some see them as reflecting their diverse membership, with the purple as an example of the Royal Black Preceptory, the green for nationalism/republicanism and the fine swathe of white uniting them.
The momentum is fast and furious with just two weeks to voting on Thursday, May 30th. Money is the first urgent concern to help get as many of the 70 coalition candidates as possible elected to the new forum. If you realise the huge and courageous, leap being made by women in the coalition, crossing sectarian, political and class divisions, is it too much to ask for money to help them to make it?
Mary Rourke, deputy leader of Fianna Fail was one of the first TDs to welcome the setting up of the coalition. Others, including Helen Keogh, Women's Affairs spokeswoman for the PDs, has said she will try to travel to Belfast next week to see the situation on the ground. Senator Mary Henry and Fine Gael's Frances Fitzgerald have also expressed support. It is believed the 23 women TDs may hold a meeting this week to discuss their strategy on the coalition. Meanwhile, anyone who wants to give money can send it to the Northern Ireland Women's, Committee, c/o Northern Bank, 49151 - University Road, Belfast. The sort code is 95 01 49 and the account number is 41211986. Or you can send buckets of sterling to the treasurer and fundraiser, Avila Kilmurray, c/o 12 Knock Eden Park, Belfast. BT6 0JF. Donations can be anonymous.
Paula Duffy, president of Network, the organisation for businesswomen, has promised to suss out the needs off the coalition with her colleagues. One of the most successful of the newer women's organisations, Network is holding its annual conference in the Arts Block at Trinity College, Dublin, on May 25th. Perhaps they could start networking in the way businessmen and farmers, North and South, have been doing since the ceasefire started.
Just to get an idea of the exhilarating buzz of women busy with the business of politics, go North. If you want to feel the burn of women shedding their invisibility and standing against the powerful, established and male dominated parties, dig deep into your pockets and send your money North.
If you have clout, arrange fundraising events and send the proceeds to support the women candidates of the coalition. With some of the candidates about to visit their bank managers to take out loans for their campaigns, money is a crucial need.
If you too want to put an end - or dent - in the vocabulary of male politicians forever droning on about who they will/will not talk to, whether they will sit around the table/abstain, then help the coalition candidates to get elected in sizeable numbers. Holy Moses, even if the men agree to sit facing each other, there will probably be more stop starts while they decide on the shape/colour/height of the table. If you want an end to all that, if you too want an end to the violence, to the fear, to the intimidation and threats which have passed for politics in the North, support the Women's Coalition candidates in every way you can.
When the coalition was established in Belfast, May Blood, chairwoman of the Shankill Women's Forum and now election agent for the coalition, said: "We have our differences but we agree to differ".
In case you have been sleeping (even awake you may know little, about the coalition which has received, next to no coverage in the South) it, was recently formed to contest the elections in the North. The idea came from an initial meeting held by the Northern Ireland Women's European Platform - (NIWEP), chaired by Bronagh Hinds, and some women's, organisations. It grew from a simple demand that the elections be gender proofed to a clamour from women to run themselves.
For the first time in decades of Northern politics, Catholics, Protestants and dissenters have come together under the one umbrella. Within a few weeks they have raised overwhelming support. It is a radical, new force and represents the silent voices of women who have worked long and hard over the past 25 years to keep a level of stability in the North, while the men called the shots. Many of the women candidates have already made their mark in homes, in community and voluntary groups, in business, trade unions and in education. During the ceasefire they vowed they would never allow the North to return to the days of curfews, searches, bombs and bullets. Now they have a chance to run with their vision of having a safe place to live and to raise their families without dread without forever being in a blue funk. Is that too much to ask?
Felicity Huston, a tax consultant in east Belfast and a member of the NI Conservative Party, is one woman standing for the coalition. Her natural political base has been set aside for the present since she says she could not see any sign of the sectarian and political mould being broken. She says that in the past some women were put off standing for election because of the inherent security risks to their families.
Other coalition members say the main parties simply did not promote women members which is why, when you look North, you just see "men - whether in suits, uniforms or balaclavas. Huston says she is staggered by the diversity of women of all ages, classes, religions, in the workforce or at home she has met in the coalition.
MONICA McWilliams is another Belfast candidate. A native of south Derry, she is senior lecturer in social science at the University of Ulster and has a weight of experience in research pinto domestic violence and degrees in town and urban planning.
She says: "Women have long experience of being excluded from the political system. We are not content to sit back and let ourselves be left out any more. We work as a team in the Women's Coalition, which is interested in finding a solution to the political issues that face us all, rather than defending rigidly the traditional constitutional positions. All those elected must be ready to talk, to debate and where necessary, to compromise."
Another candidate, Pearl Sagar, a community worker in east Belfast, says: "We are offering the electorate, both men and women, the welcome opportunity to vote for a new kind of politics where politicians are honest, hard working and accountable".
McWilliams stresses that they have no axe to grind with women who are standing for the main parties. She feels the more women elected the better and wishes them well. She also feels that the failure of mainstream parties to select women in the past is probably due to "laziness and perhaps, a slight arrogance".
One of the signs of the success of the coalition is the increased attention they are getting from traditional parties, particularly the unionists. May Blood, a formidable debater, has been successfully lobbing provocative questions from mainstream politicians on local radio. She is clear and succinct and will not be deflected from the chosen course of the coalition - talks and peace.
Earlier this week there was a fine furore when it emerged that Jane Morrice, the head of the EU office in Belfast, had taken leave of absence to stand for the coalition. The unionists, huffed and puffed in the Belfast Telegraph to no avail. Morrice had told her bosses and has taken perfectly legitimate leave for a few weeks.
The coalition's policies include involving every group in the North. They believe decommissioning should be dealt with as the talks proceed. They also believe a review of the RUC is necessary.
"The ceasefire was very, very nice," says Monica McWilliams. "But now, even before the marching season begins, they are already starting to build bonfires near where I live. It is difficult to live with that. I suppose it's good that we're not killing each other. There is no way we are going back to that."
