Speech at a Reception to Mark 100 Years of Women in Law
Áras an Uachtaráin, 3rd November, 2021
You are all most welcome here to Áras an Uachtaráin this evening as we mark the centenary of the calling of the first women – Averil Deverell and Frances Kyle – to the Bar in either Britain or Ireland.
It is most apt that I have this opportunity to extend a particular welcome to Maura McNally, Chair of the Council of the Bar, and one of just two women who have held this distinguished position.
Looking around the room today, it is greatly apparent how far some have come, since that November day in 1921, or indeed from that earlier day in January 1920 when the admission of Frances Kyle and Averil Derverell to King’s Inns was described by The Irish Times as “a women’s invasion of the law”. However it has not been without a struggle, determination and endured humiliation, too, that stains the history of some legal institutions.
Today some 38 percent of all Barristers are women, and some 17 percent of Senior Counsel are women. Many of you are here this evening, gathered to honour and remember those who have gone before, those who have blazed a trail for today’s women in law.
Our gathering this evening includes of course some of the eminent and illustrious women who have lit and sustained that flame of equality in the practice of the law. We are privileged to have you all in the room this evening.
You and your predecessors have done so much to remove so many of the obstacles that once stood between women and the pursuit of a career in law, and, in doing so, have helped to shape the society we inhabit today.
As esteemed judges, barristers, professors, lecturers and of course Attorney General, you have all broken new ground paving the way for new generations of women who will follow in the pursuit of careers in the field of law.
May I thank you most warmly then for the important role you play in creating the fair and representative legal system that must be an important foundation stone for the creation of a nation worthy of calling itself a democracy. If we are to fully achieve such a legal system, then it must be acknowledged that the opening up of legal careers to all citizens within our society is essential for the creation of a nation that is truly seeking equality.
As citizens of a country that aspires to be in such a search, it is critical that we remain alert to the need for a judicial system that will safeguard the civil rights and freedoms of all our people. We are, today, a greatly diverse and multi-cultural society, and must achieve a justice system that is genuinely inclusive, fair and ethical if those who work within it, in their various capacities, are representative of such a society.
There can be no doubting that progress has been made within the last 100 years in relation to gender balance within our legal system, and today we gather to celebrate that progress and all who have played their part in it. It is important, however, that we do not allow our encouraging data and recent statistics to obscure the fact that there remains so much ground to cover if we are to make a fulfilling career in law genuinely accessible to all women within our society.
Why, for example, has it been over the last 30 years that, in a field where over 50 percent of those who commenced their studies have been female, so few women are represented at the most senior levels of that sector? What are the barriers that so many talented women are still encountering as they seek to progress their career, and to offer the full wealth of their creativity and intellect to that respected and greatly influential profession that is the law?
There are, as you all know so well, many factors that may constitute an explanation, but most certainly they do not excuse the under-representation of women in the legal profession. Such excluding factors include the way the world of work is structured, unconscious gender discrimination, excluding networks, perceived class distances, and perhaps the perception that certain areas of law may be most suited to women, while others might be assumed to best remain the preserve of men.
Many of you here today may perhaps have encountered and overcome such barriers, or have had to repeatedly challenge the complex social and structural rules and outdated attitudes that can make it so difficult for women in law to progress at the same rate as their male colleagues.
It makes your achievements all the more appropriate for recognition and celebration.
It should go without saying that the quality of our justice system affects all our citizens, the structure of our society, and the culture in which we live. When the interpreting and enforcing of our laws, or indeed when the drafting and debating of those laws and the policies which surround them, takes place within a system that is not inclusive, we have a system that is fundamentally flawed.
It would be fair I think to say that, of all sectors, the legal profession is one where diversity of experience, background, scholarship and capacity for compassion is most critical – enabling the legal process to reflect and comprehend the broad range of circumstances and backgrounds which affect both the behaviour and the needs of our citizens. Our judicial system has enormous power, and can determine actions that impact profoundly on the lives of others – for example, the deprivation of liberty, the removal of children from a parent, the deportation of immigrants, the appropriate resolution to a serious dispute in the workplace, the right of a citizen to remain in their home.
If, therefore, we are to achieve a legal system that is not inherently unfair to large groups within our society, the composition of that system must be reflective of the population it serves.
The erecting of any barriers or obstacles, or indeed failure to dismantle and remove any existing ones, that enable gender, disability, ethnic or class background to be a significant disadvantage for those wishing to enter or progress through our legal profession, does society an enormous disservice. A genuinely accessible legal system is so important.
We know that many citizens trying to navigate and participate in our legal system are at their most vulnerable and fragile. Some are victims of domestic or sexual abuse, workplace discrimination or bullying, racist attacks, or attempts to evict them unfairly from their homes. Some are non-nationals seeking rights and a status that will allow a better future for themselves and their families. Some may have suffered great deprivation and social disadvantage throughout their lives, and now live on the margins of a society in which they have no voice or sense of belonging.
One hundred years ago, Frances Kyle and Averil Deverell broke new ground by allowing society to envision a legal system that would comprise diverse and different faces. Across that century, many women, including so many of you here today, have taken up that baton, playing their role in moving us towards a day when women working at all levels within the legal profession, or indeed any profession, will be the norm and not the exception. I thank and commend you for your profound contribution towards the creation of a better and fairer society for all our people.
Let us today also resolve to aspire towards a time when the legal profession of barrister will be a truly diverse one, with a greatly expanded perspective and empathy as it reflects a society enriched by individuals from many different backgrounds, cultures and traditions – a society in which so much is possible and can be imagined.
May I conclude by thanking you all, once again, for coming here today. I wish each and every one of you success in your careers and in your role as inspirational role models for the legal professionals of the future.
Traoslaím libh is guídhim gach rath oraibh do’n todchaí. Beir beannacht.
