Ailbhe Smyth is an Irish academic, feminist and LGBTQ activist. She was the founding director of the Women's Education, Resource and Research Centre (WERRC),

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

(UCD).

Education and academic career

Ailbhe Smyth received a B.A. in English and French in 1966, and then an M.A. in 1968 from University College Dublin. She began lecturing in the French department at the age of 21. During this time, she became increasingly more politically aware and began following the global women's movement, which led her to set up the ''Women's Study Forum'' at the beginning of the 1980s. This was a space where women came together to discuss issues which were affecting them including: work, sex, relationships, childcare, discrimination and violence. This was a discussion group with a strong cultural ethos and they invited women writers, poet, artists to come and talk about interesting projects that they were involved with at the time. In 1990 Ailbhe Smyth started the department of Women's Studies in U.C.D. where she stayed until 2006.

Activism

Ailbhe Smyth began her involvement in activism in the 1970s whilst a student as part of the

women's liberation movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...

. In 1990, she established the Women's Education, Research and Resource Centre (WERRC) at UCD and was head of Women's Studies from 1990 to 2006. Ailbhe now works independently as a consultant and campaigner. Smyth was a co-director of the Together for Yes national referendum campaign on abortion, and spokeswoman and convener for the Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment. She is also a founding member of

Marriage Equality Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

, convenor of Feminist Open Forum, an organiser for Action for Choice, a board member of Equality and Rights Alliance. She chaired the

National LGBT Federation The National LGBT Federation (NXF) is a non-governmental organisation in Dublin, Ireland, which focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights. The current board (as of September 2021) comprises the following: Chair Gavin Henn ...

for over 10 years and in 2015 she received the 'Lifetime Achievement' award at the GALAS, Ireland's LGBTQ Awards Ceremony. In 2019, Smyth was named as one of the ''Time'' 100 most influential people alongside the other co-directors of Together for Yes, Grainne Griffin and Orla O'Connor, in recognition of their roles within the campaign to legalise abortion in Ireland. Ailbhe was twice nominated by the Minister for Education to serve on the board of the Higher Education Authority and has also served as a Trustee of the National Library of Ireland. Ailbhe is currently Chair of Ballyfermot STAR Addiction Services, and also of Women's Aid. She is a member of the board of Age Action. In March 2022 she was amongst 151 international feminists signing ''Feminist Resistance Against War: A Manifesto'', in solidarity with the

Feminist Anti-War Resistance Feminist Anti-War Resistance (FAR or FAWR, russian: Феминистское антивоенное сопротивление (ФАС), Feministskoye antivoyennoye soprotivleniye (FAS)) is a group of Russian feminists founded in February 2022 to ...

initiated by Russian feminists after the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. In 2022, she was awarded the freedom of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

city.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, Ailbhe Living people Alumni of University College Dublin LGBT rights activists from Ireland Irish women activists Irish abortion-rights activists Abortion in the Republic of Ireland Year of birth missing (living people) Lesbian academics Irish LGBT people Women civil rights activists 21st-century LGBT people