Ireland day 0548. Thursday 30 March 2023- Senior Women *

Ireland day 0548. Thursday 30 March 2023- Senior Women

Today’s summary	We both went on walks (in opposite directions) round the demesne then in the evening went to the Royal Irish Academy to listen to a talk about why there are so few women in leadership positions. Had the opportunity to talk to the former president of Finland, which was an unexpected privilege
Today’s weather	Sunshine and showers. A typical spring day. Light southerly wind. Appx 14C

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Demesne anticlockwise on crutches

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

There was no dodging the showers today so we just got up, had breakfast, made packed lunches, and went out. Only a short outing though as we were a bit pressed for time. Val wanted to do a power-walk and I – being an outboard short of a motorboat at the moment – decided to do a more sedate plod on my crutches. So Val headed off clockwise round the castle demesne, and I pottered off the other way round, so we crossed mid-way and then met up again at the end. We decided to have our packed lunches in the castle botanic garden and then afterwards went off into town to do a bit of shopping. Once back at the flat we had a cup of tea and then got changed for our evening out.

Then tonight we were back at the Royal Irish Academy again this evening. The topic of tonight’s debate was “Why are there so few women political leaders?”
The panel comprised Baroness Ruth Davidson, Prof Yvonne Galligan, President Tarja Halonen and Prof Monica McWilliams. It was moderated by Aine Lawlor of RTE.
I found it absolutely excellent and it gave me – as a man – plenty to think about. And it’s not every night you have the opportunity to chat with the former president of Finland in detail about your recent hip surgery (though she was extremely empathetic as she is also on crutches at the moment).

Key messages seem to be that (for people of either gender) if you want to be a leader, you need to be authentic. So choose something you really believe in. And also for women specifically – go into leadership positions with your eyes open because it will be tough and you’ll get a lot of pushback. But don’t give up, because you can succeed, and it’s worth it in the end.

Altogether an uplifting evening out.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Recent heavy rain has led to waterlogging of the cricket pitch up at the demesne, and adjacent lawns	Val up in the castle “botanic” garden, enjoying the brief interval of warm sun

Me doing the same although by now the sun had gone in	Rosemary in flower outside the butterfly house

Sun shines on the righteous	I feel at home here! (And not just because it’s in Dawson Street)

Val on her power-walk