“Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”
Virginia Woolf said that. And look, there will be no more talk of locking up libraries around these parts if you know what’s good for you, but a wise woman Virginia was indeed.
Of course, it was strong, brave, and opinionated Limerick women that lead the charge against the malodorous far-right agitators at our City Library the week before last. Our tough out Treaty wans sent them packing pretty quickly with their tails between their legs.
In fairness, women really are a great bunch of lads.
And maybe it’s that kind of strong woman that Limerick needs to clean up shop down in City Hall and take up the mantle of Directly Elected Mayor (DEM).
Sociologist at TUS Karen Sugrue certainly thinks so. Speaking with Joe Nash on Live 95 last week, she was firmly of the view that we need to vote for women or they will never get into positions of power and “things will never change”.
”Vote for a woman or run yourself or help a woman run because there is going to be a lot of electioneering, a lot of canvassing, and a lot of campaigning in the next year or so. There’s lots of women out there that would be excellent candidates but could also use the help of women to get elected,” Ms Sugrue told Live 95.
It looks like we may be able add Karen to our list of contenders for the hot seat come next year. And more power to her too.
John Lennon once said that there is a great woman behind every idiot, so maybe now is the time for them to step forward and into the limelight. There are many great Limerick women that I can think of that would make for a real safe pair of hands as our first DEM.
If truth be told, a woman might just be what this role needs.
The old boys brigade won’t be overly enamoured, or overly bothered either. Some of these scone-chomping dinosaurs are blissfully unaware of the changes going on around them in the world and are still living in another time.
Wakey wakey gents! The ladies are coming for ye like a meteor out of the sky and they intend to show you how it’s done. Extinction beckons!
Senator Maria Byrne’s name has been mentioned as a possible Fine Gael candidate and Social Democrats councillor Elisa O’Donovan has been all over the DEM since day one. Will she run for the job or has she simply been gearing up for Karen Sugrue’s campaign as the Social Democrats candidate? My money is on Sugrue to step into O’Donovan’s shoes as she aims for the stars.
It’s all purely speculation at this stage, but all will be revealed soon enough. Soon as September comes, the fun and games will well and truly begin.
But remember ladies, as we learned from the pages of Lady Chatterley’s Lover: “A woman has to live her life, or live to repent not having lived it.”
