I am bewildered by all these women politicians appearing on TV to tell me that it is one hundred years since women got to vote in the so-called United Kingdom.
Did that really happen in 1918? and is it a bit premature for the Mother (sic) of Parliaments to congratulate itself.
Well yes I think it is a nonsense.
Democracy and Equality in the right to vote go hand in hand so an unbalanced system with different age limits (21 for men and 30 for women and a property qualification ) is not exactly something to celebrate. A further decade would go by before there was equality.
Which actually changed society more? Extending the franchise to working class men or extending limited franchise to middle class women. While it is often correct to link Gender struggles and Class struggles, this was clearly not the case in 1918.
Of course the Easter Rising Proclamation of the Irish Republic guaranteed universal suffrage to man and women on an equal basis. And this was enacted in the Irish Free State in 1923.
Keeping An Eye On the Czar of Russia 
Sinn Féin deserves credit and deserves to be mentioned in the news. It did very well in the election in 1918 and had the first woman candidate to be elected. Sinn Féin carries forward the same progressive agenda today.
Of course many of those who were SF in 1918 were in other parties within a decade.
Note also that Sinn Féin has a female leader in both north and south. FF, FG, etc have male leaders.
And SDLP Alliance and DUP have had female leaders before Sinn Féin. And Mairia Cahill is a woman. How did SF behave towards her.
Good to see Mary Lou being installed. Her speech was inspirational and I think will energise the party. Expect an improvement in the polls.
1. Were you inspired?
2 Why does the party need energised?
3 maybe. maybe not.