Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Is mór an onóir í dom mar bhean agus mar Theachta Dála bheith anseo anocht agus muid ag tabhairt ómóis do mhná na hÉireann agus gluaiseacht na sufraigéide on gcéad seo caite. Táimid go mór faoi chomaoin dóibh as a gcuid iarrachtaí, a ghnóthaigh cearta vótála do gach bean in Éirinn, agus gabhaimid buíochas leo.

As women, our right to vote was hard-fought-for and hard-won. Today we remember, not that 100 years ago we were granted the right to vote but rather that 100 years ago our grandmothers and great-grandmothers demanded our right to vote. As one part of a greater struggle for social justice, they demanded that our right as women to engage in public life and play full part in society would be respected and vindicated by all. The suffrage that we celebrate today was not something that was given to us. It was achieved through great sacrifice, unapologetically and with absolute conviction by our foremothers asserting our self-evident and inalienable rights as women.

As we face obstacles, discrimination and inequalities that are severe, that are challenging and that at times seem insurmountable, we must take strength, hope and inspiration from the battles won by those women who came before us. The challenges they faced were overwhelming, and yet they persisted and they overcame. We owe it to these women who sacrificed, who suffered and who lost so much – some losing their lives – to continue to fight, and to continue to overcome.

The Ireland of tomorrow will be shaped by the women of today, by our children and by our grandchildren. We will continue to speak and we will be heard. We, the women of the whole island of Ireland, mná na hÉireann - mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers and granddaughters – will continue to speak up, continue to build, continue to foster and continue to inspire.

The most appropriate way of honouring these brave and courageous campaigning women of yesteryear is to continue the fight for full equality for women at home and abroad. While clearly great and historic strides were made by the suffragettes, they would expect nothing less from us. They would want us to take and win the next steps in the battles of equality, to take strength from their achievement, and to go from strength to strength to continue the fight. That is the best way to honour their memory, their courage and their monumental achievement at that time.

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