Mná na hÉireann

To mark 50 years of EU membership, Photo Museum Ireland is exhibiting portraits of past female Irish MEPs. The portraits were taken by renowned Estonian photographer, Kaupo Kikkas.

Kaupo Kikkas manages to capture the individuality and distinctive personality of our female representatives who range from Síle de Valera, one of Ireland’s first female MEPs, right up to the five incumbents. 

resident of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola said: 

Ireland has come a long way over the past 50 years, but recent state commemorations in the context of the ‘Decade of Centenaries’ programme have highlighted that women still have to fight for a number of causes in the 21st century, to bring equality to all aspects of Irish women’s lives.

Since its accession to the European Community in 1973, Ireland has been at the heart of Europe’s economic, political and social ecosystem and has prospered. Both Ireland and the EU reap benefits from our continued partnership.

Today, the support of Irish citizens for the European project remains among the highest. Ireland continues to be an avid team player, endorsing a community that strives for more equality, justice and peace.

I hope you enjoy this exhibition, and I hope it will inspire other Irish women to stand for election at the local, national or European level, because equal representation starts with equal involvement in politics, which is the guarantee of a more equal and democratic future.