Commemorative tree planting and walk shines a light for women on International Women’s Day

Fingal County Council`s Community Office, were delighted to be joined by Cllr Mary McCamley, deputising for Mayor of Fingal and Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly, in Millennium Park Blanchardstown to Celebrate International Women’s day on March 8th and Shine a light on Gender Bias and Safety Issues for Women.  Also in attendance at the commemorative tree planting and symbolic walk event were local councillors and Director of Housing and Community Robert Burns with participants lighting the way as they walked in solidarity with women.

Speaking at the event Cllr Mary McCamley said “While International Women’s day is an opportunity to Celebrate Women it’s also an opportunity to highlight challenges and issues that effect their lives.”  Cllr McCamley spoke of the struggles of all girls and women in Ukraine at the moment and asked that they be remembered during the walk saying the walk was an opportunity to shine a light on issues and challenges women in society face so, “lets shine a light for women going forward”.

Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly echoed Cllr McCamley’s sentiments for the women of Ukraine and said: “I am delighted to be here to mark this day with all of you and it is great to see so many local residents and groups along with so many local councillors which shows their commitment to their local constituents.” 

 She went on to say “I also want to acknowledge the work of the community office in developing this exciting event. The community office has supported numerous events and activities across the county today and during this week highlighting International Women’s day and celebrating women across the county. These projects involve the work of many different departments, bringing operations, and the Community and Sports department together in collaboration. It also gives the community office the opportunity to support social inclusion of women across the Dublin 15 area and encourages them to participate and raise awareness of issues that affect their lives.”

Linda Ennis, Principal Community Officer said; “It is great to be back out meeting communities and groups again and supporting these community events. The work of the community department in bringing so many exciting events across the county this week in celebrating International Women’s day and we feel that this is welcomed and celebrated after such challenging times.  

Over 100 people registered for the ‘Shine a Light’ event and many more people engaged in all of our International Women’s day events this week which is great to see. The Community Development team has been working hard on getting back out and engaging with local communities and groups and developing community initiatives. We look forward to opportunities for working with communities in the coming months.”