Her empathy and precision defined her, but they were a product of manifold tensions, divisions, silences and denials
In the midst of all the chaos, urgency and vulnerability, it was McCafferty’s precision that stood out as she denounced the setbacks of the 1980s. Photo: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.iewas part of a remarkable generation of women journalists who felt compelled to upend expectations. The changing political environment, nationally and internationally, gave these feminists an added momentum from the late 1960s.
In the midst of all the chaos, urgency and vulnerability, it was McCafferty’s precision that stood out as she denounced the setbacks of the 1980s. “The gulf between the lip service – paid by priest, politician and lay fundamentalist to their own notion of womanhood – and the reality of women’s lives” was how she described what she wrote about that decade. “The eighties were as shocking as they were ineffably sad. The feminist vision was reduced to survival.
In her memoir Nell , she referred to “the social exclusion that came from engaging as a Northerner with the South in which I lived”. In 1987, when asked on RTÉ radio by Conor Cruise O’Brien whether she supported the IRA, she replied “Yes, I do”. There was a stunned silence before O’Brien said, “your honesty is refreshing”. And yet, “Nobody asked me why I supported the IRA. Nobody wanted to talk about it”.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Nell McCafferty: journalist and feminist campaigner dies aged 80Derry woman was founding member of Irish Women’s Liberation Movement and wrote about social injustice
Read more »
Journalist and feminist activist Nell McCafferty dies aged 80 as tributes paidThe former Irish Times journalist, originally from Derry, was a prominent voice on women’s rights issues across the island of Ireland and in 1970 co-founded the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement.
Read more »
Nell McCafferty: Renowned writer and feminist activist dies aged 80McCafferty was a leader of the Irish feminist movement in the late 1960s and was a founding member of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement.
Read more »
Journalist And Women's Rights Activist Nell McCafferty Has Died Aged 80Journalist, author and women's rights activist Nell McCafferty has died at the age of 80. She passed away this morning at a nursing home in County Donegal. S...
Read more »
Nell McCafferty obituary: Fierce and fearless journalist and campaigner with ‘lovely sense of divilment’Nell McCafferty was part of a Bogside aristocracy that included Martin McGuinness, Eamonn McCann, Seamus Deane, Paddy Doherty, John Hume and Dana
Read more »
Nell McCafferty in PicturesFierce feminist, journalist, social campaigner, a playwright described as a ‘trailblazer’ and ‘towering figure’
Read more »