Peace Heroines exhibition begins Tyneside Irish Festival
A free exhibition celebrating the women who brought peace to Northern Ireland opens this year’s Tyneside Irish Festival.
Peace Heroines features reproductions of vivid portraits by a visual artist in County Down who styles herself FRIZ.
The exhibition, marking 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement, is on show at the Tyneside Irish Centre, 43 Gallowgate, in a top floor space renamed the Gallowgate Gallery.
Among those portrayed is Bronagh Hinds, the civil rights activist who co-founded the Northern Ireland Women’s Rights Movement and, later, the Northern Ireland Women’s European Platform.
Ahead of the 1996 peace talks, she co-founded the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition (NIWC) and later acted as senior advisor and negotiator of the Good Friday Agreement.
Also portrayed are Pearl Sagar and Monica McWilliams.
Pearl, a social worker from the Protestant community, was one of the two women at the table, representing the NIWC alongside Monica McWilliams.
The pair were subjected to constant sexism but secured important concessions that were key to the success of the Good Friday Agreement.
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Not overlooked in the exhibition is local heroine Mo Mowlam, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998.
Dr Mowlam was MP for Redcar and a former Newcastle University lecturer.
The exhibition is launched today (Friday, October 18) by the Irish Consul General, Sarah Mangan, and with a talk by Dr Sarah Campbell, senior lecturer in Irish and British History at Newcastle University.
“These women played a pivotal role in bringing communities together, yet they are often overlooked in the telling of the history of peace in Northern Ireland”, said Dr Campbell.
“Their legacy continues to be central to the success of the Good Friday Agreement, so it’s exciting to be able to see their portraits and the exhibition all shown together this side of the Irish Sea for the first time ever.”
The launch event was accessible only to holders of tickets secured in advance but the exhibition is free to view until the last day of the festival, October 27.
Tyneside Irish Festival, presented by the Tyneside Irish Cultural Society, features a busy programme of events at the Gallowgate centre and various other venues.
Find details at www.tynesideirish.com.