Ailbhe Smyth

Ailbhe Smyth is an Irish academic, feminist and LGBTQ activist. She was the founding director of the Women's Education, Resource and Research Centre (WERRC), University College Dublin (UCD).[1]

Ailbhe Smyth
Smyth in 2017
Personal details
NationalityIrish
Alma materUniversity College Dublin
ProfessionAcademic
Known forLGBT and feminist activism

Education and academic career

Ailbhe Smyth received a B.A. in English and French in 1966, and then an M.A. in 1968 from University College Dublin. [2] She began lecturing in the French department at the age of 21. During this time she became increasingly more politically aware and began following the global women's movement which led her to setting up the Women's Study Forum at the beginning of the 1980s. This was a space where women came together to discuss issues which were affecting them including: work, sex, relationships, childcare, discrimination and violence. This was a discussion group with a strong cultural ethos and they invited women writers, poet, artists to come and talk about interesting projects that they were involved with at the time. In 1990 Ailbhe Smyth started the department of Women's Studies in U.C.D. [3] where she stayed until 2006.

Activism

Ailbhe Smyth began her involvement in activism in the 1970s whilst a student as part of the women's liberation movement.[1]

In 1990, she established the Women's Education, Research and Resource Centre (WERRC) at UCD and was head of Women's Studies from 1990 to 2006.

Ailbhe now works independently as a consultant and campaigner. [4]

Smyth was a co-director of the Together for Yes national referendum campaign on abortion, and spokeswoman and convener for the Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment.[5][6] She is also a founding member of Marriage Equality, convenor of Feminist Open Forum, an organiser for Action for Choice, a board member of Equality and Rights Alliance.

She chaired the National LGBT Federation for over 10 years and in 2015 [7] she received the 'Lifetime Achievement' award at the GALAS, Ireland's LGBTQ Awards Ceremony.[4]

In 2019, Smyth was named as one of the Time 100 most influential people alongside the other co-directors of Together for Yes, Grainne Griffin and Orla O'Connor, in recognition of their roles within the campaign to legalise abortion in Ireland. [8]

Ailbhe was twice nominated by the Minister for Education to serve on the board of the Higher Education Authority and has also served as a Trustee of the National Library of Ireland.

Ailbhe is currently Chair of Ballyfermot STAR Addiction Services, and also of Women's Aid. She is a member of the board of Age Action.

References
  1. McAuliffe, Mary. "Interview with Ailbhe Smyth". Tall Girl Shorts. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  2. "linkedin".
  3. "Ailbhe Smyth: We can't go on closing our eyes to the reality of abortion in Ireland". The Daily Slog. 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  4. "Ailbhe Smyth Activist and independent scholar". Estudios Irlandeses. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  5. McMahon, Aine (2 May 2017). "Abortion: Pro-choice rally urges February 2018 referendum". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  6. Crawford, Hillary E. "This Irish Abortion Activist Has Been Fighting For Women's Rights For Decades". Bustle. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  7. Murtagh, Gillian (22 September 2016). "The Artistic Revolution Behind the Repeal the Eighth Campaign". University Times. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  8. "Grainne Griffin, Ailbhe Smyth and Orla O'Connor: The 100 Most Influential People of 2019". TIME. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
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