Minister Patrick O’Donovan welcomes the report of the Advisory Committee on Women’s Stories.
- Published on: 12 December 2025
- Last updated on: 12 December 2025
- 31 recommendations to advance the representation of women and women’s stories, with a special focus on under-represented and marginalised groups.
- Enhanced supports for the National Cultural Institutions and other collecting institutions.
- Development of a permanent women’s museum.
- Measures to address policy, funding, and structural inequities across the cultural sector, and build supportive partnerships.
The Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan T.D., today presented the report of the Advisory Committee on Women’s Stories to the Government.
The Advisory Committee was established in March 2024 to make recommendations that will enhance and enrich the representation of women and women’s stories, in all their diversity, in the National Cultural Institutions and the national collections. The Advisory Committee was also asked to consider a range of options for the creation of a dedicated presentation of women’s stories, including a permanent women’s museum. The National Cultural Institutions and wider cultural sector are already sensitively and thoughtfully representing many aspects of women’s lives and experiences. This report highlights the great potential to build on this progress and embed positive change.
Minister O’Donovan said:
“I am very grateful to the Advisory Committee on Women’s Stories, expertly chaired by Dr Sandra Collins, for this timely and important body of work. I am giving these recommendations my full consideration, as I know that women’s voices, experiences, and influence have not always been fairly represented across the cultural sector and that this has caused great hurt to many. I am determined to progress these recommendations, including the one establishing a permanent women’s museum. Now, more than ever, it is vitally important that we all do our level best to advance equality and create a more inclusive and socially-just society.”
Dr Sandra Collins, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Women’s Stories, said:
‘It has been an honour to Chair this Advisory Committee, working with excellent colleagues to develop 31 recommendations to visibly and meaningfully improve the representation of women and women's stories in the national collections and cultural institutions. The Committee focused on an inclusive and consultative approach to bring a rich diversity of experiences, personal expertise, and knowledge to the process. We hope our recommendations will assist the Government in implementing positive changes that will enhance women’s visibility, participation, and influence, across all aspects of the cultural sector and cultural life. We are delighted to present our recommendations to the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan T.D. and I would like to thank the Minister and his officials, and everyone who contributed to this work by sharing their views, experiences and expertise.’
The Advisory Committee’s recommendations are intended to be supportive, solutions-focused and constructive, as well as measurable and actionable. They are underpinned by a wealth of research, consultation, and information-gathering by the Advisory Committee over the past 18 months. The Advisory Committee adopted an inclusive approach throughout its work, grounded in gender equality principles and the provisions of the Equality Acts in Ireland.
The report comprises 31 specific recommendations, organised under 8 broad themes. These recommendations are intended to be helpful across multiple cultural disciplines, art forms, and collections - nationally, regionally and within local communities. They are summarised below:
- Adopt guiding principles as a supportive framework for everyone involved in decision-making and strategic planning for the improved representation of women and women’s stories. [1 recommendation]
- Address policy, funding, and structural inequities; this is critical to enable women’s fuller participation and representation across the cultural sector, particularly for under-represented and marginalised groups. [5 recommendations]
- Implement a community-led and co-curatorial ethos, developing approaches to engagement with communities that prioritise stewardship, partnership, and co-curatorial principles, particularly for under-represented and marginalised groups. [4 recommendations]
- Commit to a special focus on under-represented and marginalised groups, to encourage a more diverse, enriched, nuanced, and fuller representation of Ireland’s cultural life. [4 recommendations]
- Build supportive partnerships to advance and amplify the representation of women and women’s stories in all their diversity through the provision of funding and other essential supports. [3 recommendations]
- Enhance education and outreach about women’s diverse lives and experiences and remove barriers to engagement. [4 recommendations]
- Support the National Cultural Institutions and other collecting institutions to ensure that collections are more diverse, representative, and inclusive of women’s stories and are accessible to everyone. [6 recommendations]
- Establish a dedicated presentation of women’s stories, recognising that women’s experiences throughout our island’s history are a vital and integral part of our history, culture, and identity. [4 recommendations]
The full report of the Advisory Committee, together with minutes of meetings and other information about the Committee’s work can be found here: