PAPERS OF GEMMA HUSSEY P179 UCD ARCHIVES [email protected] www.ucd.ie/archives T + 353 1 716 7555 © 2016 University College Dublin. All rights reserved ii CONTENTS CONTEXT Biographical History iv Archival History vi CONTENT AND STRUCTURE Scope and Content vii System of Arrangement ix CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE Access xi Language xi Finding Aid xi DESCRIPTION CONTROL Archivist’s Note xi ALLIED MATERIALS Allied Collections in UCD Archives xi Published Material xi iii CONTEXT Biographical History Gemma Hussey nee Moran was born on 11 November 1938. She grew up in Bray, Co. Wicklow and was educated at the local Loreto school and by the Sacred Heart nuns in Mount Anville, Goatstown, Co. Dublin. She obtained an arts degree from University College Dublin and went on to run a successful language school along with her business partner Maureen Concannon from 1963 to 1974. She is married to Dermot (Derry) Hussey and has one son and two daughters. Gemma Hussey has a strong interest in arts and culture and in 1974 she was appointed to the board of the Abbey Theatre serving as a director until 1978. As a director Gemma Hussey was involved in the development of policy for the theatre as well as attending performances and reviewing scripts submitted by playwrights. In 1977 she became one of the directors of TEAM, (the Irish Theatre in Education Group) an initiative that emerged from the Young Abbey in September 1975 and founded by Joe Dowling. It was aimed at bringing theatre and theatre performance into the lives of children and young adults. Gemma Hussey has maintained a lifelong commitment to equality and social justice. Her involvement with the women’s movement in the 1970s and 1980s demonstrates her leadership in this area. She, along with Nuala Fennell, Audrey Conlon, Hilary Pratt and Phil Moore, was one of the founding members of the Women’s Political Association [WPA]. She was elected Chair of the WPA in 1973. The aim of the association was to influence public opinion on the importance of gender balance amongst public representatives, to pressurise political parties and to encourage women to run for public office. The WPA operated with very limited resources and relied on teams of women volunteering in local branches to promote the objectives of the association. Between 1976 and 1977 the WPA compiled and circulated a questionnaire to all Dáil Deputies to elicit information about their attitude to the major issues affecting Irish women. The information was sought by the WPA so that their members could make informed decisions about who they would support in a general election. Gemma Hussey was also a founding member of the National Women’s Talent Bank which sought to maintain a register of women suitable to serve on public boards and commissions. She was a delegate to the Council for the Status of Women, an umbrella group with representatives of most women’s organisations in Ireland From 1977 to 1982 Gemma Hussey served as a Senator elected by the National University of Ireland panel. During her first term she sat as an independent, and, as such, she brought the first Oireachtas bill on rape—including marital rape—to the House as a private member’s bill. In 1980 she joined the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party and became the party’s first spokesperson on Women’s Affairs. She went on to become the Government Leader in the Seanad. Gemma Hussey was elected to Dáil Éireann as a TD for the Wicklow constituency in February 1982 having narrowly missed out on a seat in the general election held in June 1981. She was appointed as the opposition spokesperson on Broadcasting, Arts and Culture. She held her seat at the next general election in November 1982 and was appointed in the Fine Gael-Labour coalition government as Ireland’s first female Minister for Education from 1982 to 1986. After a cabinet reshuffle she briefly served as Minister for Social Welfare and Minister for Labour. iv Throughout her public and political life Gemma Hussey was a liberal and a feminist. She was a strong supporter of legislating for divorce in Ireland and campaigned vigorously in favour of a yes vote in the 1986 referendum. She also supported the liberalisation of Ireland’s abortion ban. Her commitment to equality, diversity and social justice is demonstrated through her membership and support of many organisations and advocacy groups. She campaigned, along with many other public figures and leading academics to save the Viking archaeological site at Wood Quay. In 1979 she was invited to serve on the Commission of Enquiry into the Irish Penal System and contributed to the final report of the Commission published in 1980. She was a member of the Working Party on Women in Broadcasting and presented a submission in 1981 to the RTÉ Authority and senior management on the stereotyping of women in the media, sexism and gender imbalance in Irish broadcasting. Gemma Hussey also lent her support to the very early protagonists who sought to establish multi- denominational, co-educational schools under a democratic management structure known as Dalkey School Project (DSP). DSP faced an uphill struggle in order to establish such a school. They received much needed support from the Fianna Fáil Government and the Minister for Education John Wilson, 1977–81, a notable supporter of the enterprise. Gemma Hussey opened the new school building for the DSP in 1983. Gemma Hussey decided to stand down from Irish politics in 1989 and announced her decision not to be a candidate at the following election. She was appointed by the President, Dr Patrick Hillery, to the Council of State in September of the same year. She has remained engaged with a range of voluntary groups both social and cultural. She writes and participates in debate and discussion on a wide range of subjects and has maintained a particularly strong engagement with European affairs, in particular the European Women’s Foundation which she co-founded in 1990. She was approached by two Italian women Ambra Poli and Federica Olivares, to help establish an organization to help encourage women across Europe to set up organizations to assist women’s development in many different ways. Gemma agreed to take the (voluntary) position of Director of the European Women’s Foundation [EWF] and set up the EWF’s office in her home in Dublin. At the same time, the ‘iron curtain’ began to fall, and as communications with the former Soviet Union countries became possible, it was decided that the EWF would turn its attention to women in those former Communist countries. Gemma designed a workshop formula to reach out to women in central and eastern Europe. The workshop model concentrated on how women in these countries could become accustomed to, and use, the tools of normal democracies to improve the progress of their countries and to ensure that women had a voice and a capability of playing their part in their developing democracies. Gemma ran these workshops across the region, with WPA colleagues Hilary Pratt, Mavis Arnold, Frances Gardiner, Audrey Conlon. Between 1992 and 2006, they worked in Romania, Latvia, Slovakia, Moldova, Bulgaria, and to a lesser extent in Lithuania, Croatia and Slovenia. Apart from travelling to these countries, the EWF also brought women from the region to Ireland, where accommodation was arranged in student apartments at University College Dublin. The groups met NGOs, politicians, media personnel, and government Ministers. A highlight of several visits was a private reception in Áras an Uachtaráin given by President Mary Robinson, and later, President Mary McAleese. v Funds were raised from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, the EU PHARE programme, and from many generous private and business sponsors. The communications expert Terry Prone gave considerable help and support on a ‘pro bono’ basis. The EWF Foundation ceased operating in 2006, having achieved many of its aims. Gemma also worked from time to time during this period with the British 50/50 group (founder Lesley Abdela), and with Project Parity (President, Shirley Williams). In parallel with her work in eastern Europe, Gemma undertook a range of voluntary activity in other fields. She became the first Chair of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre Board, where she served from 1989–96. She served as Chair of Opera Theatre Company from 1989–96 She became the Chair of the Ireland Romania Cultural Foundation which worked to establish and improve relations between Ireland and Romania in the cultural field. Among its activities were exchange visits with Romanian Universities, the encouragement of visual art exchanges with Irish and Romanian artists and galleries and many other activities. For her work, the Romanian Government honoured her with the honour of Commander of the Order of Merit of Romania. She served on the Board of the Coombe Women’s Hospital and served as its Vice Chair and Chair. She served on the Board of St Patrick’s Hospital in Dublin. She was a founder member and Board member of the Wagner Society of Ireland. In 1999, she helped found the Ireland branch of the International Women’s Forum, and became its first President, 2000–2002. Archival History Deposited by Gemma Hussey in 2000. vi CONTENT AND STRUCTURE Scope and Content Letter of appointment to the Board of the National Theatre Society Ltd (the Abbey Theatre), July 1974. Minutes, agendas, accounts, correspondence, memoranda, lists of plays relating to the work of the Board of the Abbey Theatre, 1974–78. Minutes and agendas of the AGM of the National Theatre Society, 1973–78. Notes, correspondence, reports, memoranda, accounts relating to the establishment and administration of TEAM (Irish Theatre in Education group), c1972–1980.