Unsung HERoes
Project 1 | Project 2 | About
I travelled up and down the island of Ireland to meet with a very small selection of women from a very large pool of female changemakers, and heard first-hand their stories at their kitchen tables, from the grassroots up, to the political halls of power.
I have realised that women have always been changing the world, that this is not something new. I believe our great grandmothers were affecting change within their homes, their communities and via their impact on the men in their lives (who were allowed to hold the positions of leadership and power in society).
Through this influence, they have been affecting change much higher up the ladder of society than they have ever been given credit for.
Women listen, women share, and women are united across divides because they are women and they are subjugated, whatever their beliefs, wherever they live and however equal they are perceived to be.
Mo knew this; she knew that unless the women were behind peace, it would never come to Northern Ireland. Mo used to assure me that ‘it’ll be the women who persuade the men to put down their guns and talk’. It is this that has always remained with me.
I hope now that through my work, and through sharing stories of just a few of these women, we can celebrate the many unsung heroines of both our past that got us here and also our present and those who are working tirelessly towards everyone’s better futures.
Hen Norton
All portraits, except Mo and Inge, were photographed by Dan Dennison
A book was produced as part of this project. You can read it here