Goretti Horgan is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

activist and a lecturer in social policy at

Ulster University sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Life

Born in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Horgan was named after

Maria Goretti Maria Teresa Goretti (; October 16, 1890 – July 6, 1902) is an Italian virgin-martyr of the Catholic Church, and one of the youngest saints to be canonized. She was born to a farming family. Her father died when she was nine, and the family ...

. She attended university before moving to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She later returned to

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 ...

, where she became involved in pro-choice campaigning. Before becoming a lecturer, she worked as a Research Fellow at the University and as a researcher for Save the Children and the National Children's Bureau. Before training as a researcher, she worked as a community worker in Derry city and

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

. Before moving to Northern Ireland in 1986, she worked in television production in RTÉ in Dublin. She was Chair of the Northern Ireland Anti Poverty Network (NIAPN) from 2005-2008 and remains a member of the Board of Directors of NIAPN. Horgan is also a socialist and women's rights activist, particularly known for her pro-choice campaigning. She was a member of the first Women's Right to Choose Group in Ireland in the early 1980s and a founder of the Anti Amendment Campaign – the campaign to oppose the Eighth (anti-abortion) amendment to the Irish Constitution. She was later National Organiser of the Anti Amendment Campaign. In Northern Ireland, she was a founder member of the Derry Women's Right to Choose Group and of Alliance for Choice. She is a campaigner for children's rights and for the rights of disabled people. A member of the Socialist Workers Party since the early 1980s, her partner is

Eamonn McCann Eamonn McCann (born 10 March 1943) is an Irish politician, journalist, political activist, and former councillor from Derry, Northern Ireland. McCann was a People Before Profit (PBP) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from 2016 ...

the writer, journalist, and fellow socialist. They live in the

Bogside The Bogside is a neighbourhood outside the city walls of Derry, Northern Ireland. The large gable-wall murals by the Bogside Artists, Free Derry Corner and the Gasyard Féile (an annual music and arts festival held in a former gasyard) are pop ...

in Derry with their daughter, Matty. She was the official leader of the

Socialist Environmental Alliance People Before Profit ( ga, Pobal Roimh Bhrabús, PBP) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left Trotskyist political party formed in October 2005. It is active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Histo ...

until its dissolution in 2008. She has been on trial, and acquitted of all charges, for anti-war activity. She was one of nine women who occupied the Raytheon facility in Derry in January 2009, during the Israeli assault on Gaza. All were charged with burglary and criminal damage but argued in court they were trying to stop Raytheon's collusion in Israeli war crimes. As part of their defence, they had to demonstrate that war crimes had been committed during “

Operation Cast Lead Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

”. The jury found them not guilty. 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 ...

References

External links

Interview with Goretti Horgan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horgan, Goretti 1950s births Living people 20th-century politicians from Northern Ireland 21st-century politicians from Northern Ireland Academics of Ulster University Irish abortion-rights activists Irish Trotskyists Leaders of political parties in Northern Ireland Politicians from Northern Ireland Women from Northern Ireland in politics