Northern Ireland Women's Coalition

The Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition was a cross-community political party founded in 1996 that addressed gender imbalance and the lack of women’s representation in politics. Monica McWilliams and Pearl Sagar were the first in the Women’s Coalition to successfully attain seats in the Northern Ireland Forum following the 1996 elections. Informed by the core principles of inclusion, equality, and human rights, the all-women party played a key role in the multi-party negotiations that culminated in the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement in 1998. Monica McWilliams, co-founder of the party, became a signatory to the Agreement, representing a small percentage of women peace treaty signatories across the world. Often met with a backlash of hostility from their male peers, the Coalition challenged sexism and gender discrimination by encouraging women from all backgrounds, and communities, to engage with and participate in politics, effecting change for fairer and more equal political participation in Northern Ireland.

This online collection is comprised of material selected from the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition sizeable archive held at the Linen Hall Library. It contains election ephemera (campaign posters, leaflets, flyers), newspaper clippings, press releases, correspondence, photographs, speech transcripts, newspaper clippings, meeting minutes, and manifestos.