The Troubles (the Northern Ireland conflict) was an ethno-nationalist conflict that began in the late 1960s and is generally accepted as having ended with the signing of the Good Friday agreement in 1998. Fuelled by historical events, the conflict was largely political and sectarian with the main point being the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Unionist/ loyalists who were mostly Protestant wanted to remain part of the UK, while nationalists/republicans who were mainly Catholic sought a united Women from all walks of life in Northern Ireland played a vital role in the peace process and continues this cross-cultural dialogue long after the Good Friday agreement was signed. They did everything from supporting the victims, and their families, of sectarian violence to lobbying politicians to organising mass protests.

Dr Mo Mowlam (1949 to 2005) Peacemaker/Politian/First Female Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Mo is remembered as having been inclusive of all the Northern Ireland communities and also often taking the time to involve ordinary people and victims of violence and their families. Mo believed that change is easier to deliver if you are inclusive right from the start and continuously during a change process like the peace process in Northern Ireland in the late 1990s.

Mo supported the founding of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition (NIWC) as an elected political party in order to ensure that women had a voice in the first formal talks and discussions. She is remembered as having a ‘get on with it attitude’ and being personally committed to being positive about the way forward to a peace agreement.