NIRWN recently met with the NI Secretary of State Brandon Lewis MP along with other civic society organisations and Louise Coyle, NIRWN Director chaired a Civic society discussion with the UK/EU Joint Chair Maroš Šefčovič MEP. The key messages shared were: clear communication and messaging is required from both the UK and the EU; social […]
Siobhán has started work on a new research paper looking at the issue of women and debt. This is a follow-up to a previous paper Making Ends Meet published in February 2020. This research paper will look at the issue of debt for low-income women and the impact of the pandemic on debt levels. It will look […]
Siobhán continues to work as part of the Working Group for the Cliff Edge Coalition on extending and strengthening the welfare mitigations package in Northern Ireland. This last month has been extremely busy on this issue and Siobhán has taken part in a number of meetings with the working group and the Minister for Communities […]
Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has announced the appointment of an Independent Advisory Panel to review welfare mitigation measures in the north. The Independent Advisory Panel will be chaired by Les Allamby, former Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. Mr Allamby will be joined by independent panel members and departmental officials with expertise […]
Within the Feminist Recovery Plan (FRP) launched in 2020, the WPG provided a comprehensive overview of the severe impact of the gender-based violence on women and used this evidence to make various recommendations to policymakers. The issues, evidence and recommendations made by the WPG within the Feminist Recovery Plan and the other work of the […]
The NI Women’s Policy Group support and welcome the introduction of safe access zones in Northern Ireland. The introduction of these zones through this Bill are necessary in order to fully implement CEDAW’s recommendation to: “protect women from harassment from anti-abortion protestors by investigating complaints, prosecuting and punishing perpetrators”. The adoption of such provisions is […]
Since it was first published in July 2020, the WPG Feminist Recovery Plan has served as a highly effective lobbying tool and a comprehensive, representative evidence base for the Women’s Policy Group and the women’s sector more generally. Since it was relaunched in July 2021, the Plan has proven to be a living, evolving and […]
Siobhán continues to work with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and a coalition of other organisations on the Keep the Lifeline campaign to keep the pressure on Westminster Government to reinstate the £20/week increase to Universal Credit at the Spending Review this week. In the run up to the cut on 6th October Siobhán presented to […]
Siobhán continues to work with the Cliff Edge Coalition on their Working Group to take forward and lobby for the extension and strengthening of the mitigations package in Northern Ireland. The Coalition is continuing to campaign to Close the Loopholes in the Bedroom Tax and Benefit Cap. As part of the Cliff Edge working group […]
Northern Ireland’s rural women met at Stormont today to demand more support from the Executive to tackle social isolation and improve access to support services. Louise Coyle, Director of Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network (NIRWN) said that Government funding for services for women in rural areas was desperately low and this needed to change. She […]
