Two Irish Daughters - Finding Role Models for Irish Girls

Some of us come into the world with everything made easy. We don't have to work at getting better at anything as money, garganutan biceps or high cheekbones will carry us to where we were pre-destined to be. A remarkable jounrey safe from the rapid waters of adversity and content in the knowledge that their world is built around them and those fit in to that world as it is. Some others though are born to fight back, not accept the system as it is and fully believe change is possible. Those others are epitomised by Sinead Burke. Born 1990 with a condition called achondroplasia, Sinead could have accepted the circumstances, kept her head down and bemoaned the lack of opportunites. Sinead scrumpled that note and threw it into the bin. A number of titles can be given to her but none really do her justice exclusively: Disability Activist, Podcaster, Artist, Fashionista, Author, Teacher, Activist. She is a woman of action, of these descriptions and much more. After deciding she c...

We all dreamt as children of flying to the Moon or being an Astronaut at some stage didn't we? For some it was a fleeting moment of interest, for others a lifelong itch to be scratched - for Dr Norah Casey it was the latter. From the moment she visited NASA's complex in Cleveland, Ohio as a child she was hooked and her life's trajectory moved towards that star. This was no facile, childish whim. This was the beginning of a quest to reach that celestial body which has transfixed and beguiled men and women for thousands of years. Norah is making it happen. 'The First Irish person in Space' has quite the ring to it and Norah is fully deserving of the title should she get there. This isn't something that she stumbled into. It has taken focus, determination, hard work, commitment and intelligence for Norah to get to where she is. A native of Ballina, Co Mayo she took a degree in Aeronautical Engineering in Limerick, followed by the International Space Univ...

What a glorious sight it was to see two teams battling in the ampitheatre of Croke Park Dublin in yesterdays conclusion to the Ladies Football Finals. The LGFA have to take enormous praise for the way they have transformed the Ladies game in the past 20 years. The spectacle of show was worthy of any showpiece, regardless of gender, and the atmosphere from the crowd as the game entered its final throes was simply exhilarating. The Women's game has had its detractors for a long time now. Whether this be the result of misogyny, begrudgers or those who hate change it is difficult to say but what i witnessed yesterday could not be viewed without the emotions being stirred nor the admiration for those who enter the crucible of battle on the hallowed turf of Croker. I had my daughter WITH ME for her first experience of the Stadium. I thought the jaunt would do her good to see the standards and levels of what Is needed to reach the pinnacle of Ladies Gaa Football. The Junior a...