Snippets of contributions made by women attending last week's "Women and Social Exclusion, Reclaiming and Transforming the Women's Movement" conference in TCD:

On the women's movement:

"I never knew it existed. I never knew what it was about. I never even heard of women burning their bras until two weeks ago."

"The women's movement is wherever women gather together without a male agenda."

On marital status:

"When a married woman goes into a government office, all they see is a wedding ring. They treat us as if we're four different women: married, single, separated or widowed. But we're not four women, we're one woman and we should all be treated the same. I can't do a FAS course because my husband works. Why should I have to ask him for money to do a course?"

On HIV:

"By the year 2000, women will make up almost 50 per cent of people in the world with HIV. It's a very lonely thing. Women stay at home and don't mix because of rejection. HIV-positive women need more education about HIV and they need to lose the fear of going back out into the world. But there's only one support group for HIV-positive women in Ireland."

On racism:

"As a young woman in the 1990s I was led to believe we're all liberated and empowered. But here we are, less than 18 months from the millennium and we still have no anti-discrimination laws."

"We need anti-discrimination laws naming travellers. If you don't name them, you exclude them."

"Foreign women are invisible. There are almost 500 Japanese women in Ireland, as students, wives and workers. Many experience racism. Voices of women from different countries should be heard more."

On poverty:

"Poverty is not just monetary. It is about constantly being neglected, ignored, denied access, being last on the list."