:00:23. > :00:27.Hello, and welcome to the programme. Coming up this week. Schools in
:00:27. > :00:31.crisis, but is it ideology or the interests of pupils driving change?
:00:31. > :00:36.Is the Government dressing up benefit cuts to look like sound
:00:36. > :00:40.economic sense? Political parties in the Republic will face financial
:00:40. > :00:43.penalties if they don't have more women candidates. Would it work
:00:43. > :00:48.here? The picture of our education system
:00:48. > :00:52.revealed in this week's viability audit is a depressing one. 84% of
:00:52. > :00:55.our secondary schools and 46% of our primaries are in trouble with
:00:55. > :00:59.regard to falling numbers, falling standards or financial shortfall.
:00:59. > :01:02.The minister John O'Dowd insists the audit is not a charter for
:01:02. > :01:07.closing schools, but he does seem to believe that ending selection
:01:07. > :01:10.would be a big step on the road to recovery. A thought rejected by the
:01:11. > :01:19.DUP, whose Education Committee chairman, Mervyn Storey, is with me,
:01:19. > :01:24.along with the Sinn Fein Education spokesman Daithi McKay. Metal you
:01:24. > :01:28.have pointed out that this has emerged at the end of
:01:28. > :01:33.administration by you cannot say Sinn Fein are responsible for the
:01:33. > :01:38.wider ills affecting educational standards, so why you not just
:01:38. > :01:43.making cheap points? But think what we are demonstrating recently is
:01:43. > :01:48.that we are prepared to work with the minister and the Department to
:01:48. > :01:53.tried to find solutions. But it has to be faced up to the fact that
:01:53. > :01:58.during the time that Sinn Fein has had indication we have not seen a
:01:58. > :02:03.dramatic change. If this is a snapshot in time of our schools, it
:02:03. > :02:07.is a very poor reflection of that 10 year, a poor reflection of the
:02:07. > :02:12.way that the minister and the PDS ministers had dealt with the issue.
:02:12. > :02:15.They are not responsible for falling rolls. But they are
:02:15. > :02:21.responsible for setting the policy context in which our education
:02:21. > :02:29.system is to the third. The audits need to be put in context. There is
:02:29. > :02:37.a question that has not been asked of the Department of Education. The
:02:37. > :02:43.benchmark for the grammar schools was said in GCSEs at A * to grade C.
:02:43. > :02:50.But the benchmark for the non- selective was five GCSEs at A * to
:02:50. > :02:54.grade C, and 25% was the benchmark. That was way below even the
:02:54. > :02:58.Northern Ireland average. A huge health warning has to be with the
:02:58. > :03:02.way in which these figures are being interpreted. However, there
:03:02. > :03:07.certainly are huge challenge is said there in relation to the
:03:07. > :03:14.future education of by Joe people. To you accept responsibility for
:03:14. > :03:19.the state this snapshot shows? you to look at the figures, it
:03:19. > :03:27.shows that the number of young people that are getting good
:03:27. > :03:33.teacher sees from a starter grade C has increased to 59% and it looks
:03:33. > :03:37.set to increase again. Sinn Fein have been saying for some time that
:03:37. > :03:41.we need change in education and the DUP have set their face against
:03:41. > :03:48.change. They have said we have a world-class education system but
:03:48. > :03:53.these figures clearly show that is not the case. The minister
:03:53. > :03:57.associate sustainability with an end to selection. That is a big
:03:57. > :04:03.leap. Ending selection will not fix the ills of the Northern Ireland
:04:03. > :04:08.education system. The most recent OECD's report shows clearly that
:04:08. > :04:13.those countries with the best education systems are countries
:04:13. > :04:17.which do not have academic selection and they are of those
:04:17. > :04:24.countries that Major in leadership within schools and educational
:04:24. > :04:28.quality. That is what we need to do here. You are saying that is the
:04:29. > :04:33.first thing that needs to be done. But is the first thing that needs
:04:33. > :04:38.to be done. We need to do away with academic selection, we need to
:04:38. > :04:45.change the education system to be fit for purpose in the 21st century.
:04:45. > :04:48.We have the equivalent of 150 m to schools and that is unsustainable.
:04:48. > :04:52.The minister himself says that the grammar schools are already
:04:52. > :04:59.adapting to a wide academic range, so what is the problem? The problem
:04:59. > :05:06.is that the grammar schools quite clearly on not delivering in terms
:05:06. > :05:10.of their results. 35% of those are demonstrating some degree of stress.
:05:10. > :05:15.That is the same across the board and in particular the controlled
:05:15. > :05:19.sector are demonstrating stress as well. There's a need to see what
:05:19. > :05:24.the issues are they enter bring about some change. We need change
:05:24. > :05:29.and the other parties need to stop sitting there face against this. I
:05:30. > :05:34.would agree that we need to have a mature debate about this. These
:05:34. > :05:39.catcalls on the side about this being a hit list are ridiculous.
:05:39. > :05:43.This is the start of a process and we need a mature debate. You're not
:05:43. > :05:46.going to agree tonight or any other night that the first thing that
:05:46. > :05:50.needs to be done is ending selection. I think it is
:05:50. > :05:54.regrettable that given the set of circumstances of these figures, but
:05:54. > :06:00.the best that Sinn Fein 10, with his having the same old ideological
:06:00. > :06:05.debate. I think people up watch this programme tonight will want to
:06:05. > :06:12.know what other solutions. There are serious issues in relation to
:06:12. > :06:21.the finance. Is it not part of this pollution, pants? I think we have
:06:21. > :06:25.this Fleche -- situation where the Catholic Church has been unable to
:06:25. > :06:29.make the change. The grammar schools themselves are part us not
:06:29. > :06:33.the best arbiters of the future. That is an issue for the Catholic
:06:34. > :06:37.church themselves and they have been unable to address that issue.
:06:37. > :06:41.We have to ensure that instead of having an ideological attack on
:06:41. > :06:48.certain sectors of the education system, there we focus on
:06:48. > :06:53.educational outcomes. I will give you one example. A school that I am
:06:53. > :07:00.familiar with other personal basis was deemed to be a failing school.
:07:00. > :07:03.That school has given 84% of the young people leaving very good
:07:04. > :07:10.outcomes and very good entertainment. I think there what
:07:10. > :07:15.is clear in this debate is that the arguments around having larger
:07:15. > :07:20.schools, I am very concerned when I listen to the Department, I hear
:07:20. > :07:26.this repeated talk about larger schools. In these figures, some of
:07:26. > :07:30.the largest pools are the ones under severe stress. By it is all
:07:30. > :07:35.about area planning. That is something that pretty much everyone
:07:35. > :07:42.does agree on. That is what I was going to come on to. We have to
:07:42. > :07:47.look at the process of area planning and in shoring that we
:07:47. > :07:53.cannot continue to replicate in every corner of the country four or
:07:53. > :07:56.five different schools. But what we can do and what we must do is
:07:56. > :08:01.ensure that the educational outcome for our children is the best that
:08:01. > :08:06.we possibly can. Let us dispense with these ideological wars and
:08:06. > :08:11.deal with the reality. There is a major core of agreement that area
:08:11. > :08:15.planning and sharing facilities is very much the way that it has to go
:08:15. > :08:23.immediately. So why not forget about selection for the moment and
:08:23. > :08:28.get on with making better success? We would view shared education in
:08:28. > :08:32.different ways, not just shared religious background but also
:08:32. > :08:35.economic background. There is a working group to look at the issue
:08:35. > :08:39.of shared education and there will be convening in the coming months
:08:39. > :08:45.and that is something that has already been successful in a number
:08:45. > :08:50.of areas. That will not only have benefits in terms of our whole
:08:50. > :08:55.community but also in terms of financial savings. So absolutely
:08:55. > :08:59.there are areas of agreement. But in terms of the quality of
:08:59. > :09:02.education, I think that is what we need to keep going back to. The
:09:02. > :09:08.minister has put in place to tame and framework legislation which
:09:08. > :09:13.will increase their choice for key stage 4 Mac and five pupils.
:09:13. > :09:18.does it relate to there being a social mix? It has been proven
:09:18. > :09:28.internationally. It is healthy at the primary level, so why not a
:09:28. > :09:32.pose primary level? Report after report and stake holder at the
:09:32. > :09:38.stake holder, the churches, the trade unions, are saying that
:09:38. > :09:44.academic selection is failing. reassurance came you did pair is
:09:44. > :09:50.that something will be done in the very short term to improve this? --
:09:50. > :09:55.can you give parents. We still have a very good basis to build on our
:09:55. > :10:01.education system. Comparing ourselves to other OECD countries
:10:01. > :10:05.is not a fair comparison. But one thing that has to be addressed is
:10:05. > :10:09.our primary schools. Why is one in four of our children leaving
:10:09. > :10:14.primary school not having attained levels of numeracy and literacy?
:10:14. > :10:21.There is a huge issue a red making sure that adequate resources placed
:10:21. > :10:24.in the primary schools. It is a siege debate, thank you very much.
:10:24. > :10:27.Isn't it strange that when unemployment goes up, governments
:10:28. > :10:33.start fretting about people scamming their benefits? We didn't
:10:33. > :10:38.get much of that through the good times. Some politicians seem to be
:10:38. > :10:44.taking comfort from the delusion that there would be no unemployment
:10:44. > :10:52.if the poor were more willing to work. Yet Tories have had to be
:10:52. > :10:59.more circumspect about the terms in which they sneer at the lower
:10:59. > :11:03.orders. During the riots last year, Cameron was happy to blame
:11:03. > :11:08.parenting and failed families. He'd never raised any doubts about the
:11:08. > :11:12.parenting of those who had gambled with our savings and investments.
:11:12. > :11:16.It is instinctive for some Conservatives to turn a practical
:11:16. > :11:21.economic problem into a moral problem. You would think they would
:11:21. > :11:28.need little reminding of the real reason the economy is in crisis and
:11:28. > :11:32.get over the fantasy that it is down to the workshy. But when stuck
:11:33. > :11:38.for measures that will provide the magic of cutting the deficit and
:11:38. > :11:44.expanding the economy at the same time, Cameron and Osborne look
:11:44. > :11:48.around to see who is really to blame. And they don't light on the
:11:48. > :11:54.banks and the investment houses and the tax avoiders. No, inevitably
:11:54. > :11:59.when they conjure up an image of the real problem with this society
:11:59. > :12:04.in their minds, it always looks like a feckless kid in a hoodie or
:12:04. > :12:09.a young woman with a baby, or a large family living on benefits in
:12:09. > :12:15.a big house. Occasionally all the corrosive toxins in our capitalist
:12:15. > :12:19.system even morph in their minds into the image of a person in a
:12:19. > :12:23.wheelchair, for, since the money available to government for public
:12:24. > :12:29.spending has shrunk, ministers have started thinking about how they can
:12:29. > :12:34.take it back from the disabled too. They want to claw back some child
:12:34. > :12:38.benefit. But the party is mortified to recall the old days of the Iron
:12:38. > :12:42.Lady, when cutting came with sneering at single mothers. Today
:12:42. > :12:47.the argument is framed differently, in terms of fairness to the
:12:47. > :12:52.overburdened tax payer who should never be funding the poor to have
:12:52. > :12:57.more money than the average worker. The case is best made over high
:12:58. > :13:03.housing benefit to poor families in London, but they are hardly the
:13:03. > :13:11.ones to blame for the crazy property market. But many people
:13:11. > :13:15.sense it is fair to pinch hard on the those who take benefits. At the
:13:15. > :13:19.same time they are not so keen on the same government translating its
:13:19. > :13:24.commitment to a competitive market into restructuring the health
:13:24. > :13:30.service. No, thinks the stock voter, that could be me in need of
:13:30. > :13:35.hospital care some day. They are less able to see that they might be
:13:35. > :13:40.in need of housing benefit or the DLA. Or free travel. Nelson
:13:40. > :13:50.McCausland hinted the other day that he might be coming after my
:13:50. > :13:56.
:13:56. > :14:00.This was a thriving workplace with hundreds of mill workers plyed
:14:00. > :14:06.their trade. And this stablity tue also commemorates the Millys.
:14:06. > :14:12.Belfast remembering its female workers of many years ago. It was
:14:12. > :14:16.ten women. It eped up 18, think 14 women successfully completed it.
:14:16. > :14:19.This week certificates were given out to bus tour guides who will
:14:20. > :14:24.remind those taking their tour, of women's contribution including that
:14:24. > :14:28.of the Millys to the city's history. A history many believe is too often
:14:28. > :14:32.ignored and in much the same way too they say is the contribution
:14:32. > :14:36.women can make to politics here. The life experiences of men are
:14:36. > :14:39.different than the life experiences of women, for instance women are
:14:39. > :14:44.more likely to be the main carer, let us say in their family, so when
:14:44. > :14:48.they are making decisions they take into account those issues, so such
:14:48. > :14:53.as childcare, education, health, Social Security, budgeting. Not
:14:53. > :14:58.that men don't do that but women bring a different perspective. I
:14:58. > :15:01.don't think women are there in enough numbers. The political
:15:01. > :15:08.parties say they would like to see more women in politics. At the
:15:09. > :15:12.moment only one in five of the MLAs is female. Women, it is said are
:15:12. > :15:17.reluctant to put themselves forward because of what is known as the
:15:17. > :15:22.five Cs. Cash. Women don't have as much as women. Childcare, culture,
:15:22. > :15:25.confidence and candidate selection. Yes we need to ask more women, and
:15:25. > :15:29.in doing that it is not enough to ask them. We have to say this is
:15:29. > :15:32.what we are going to do for you. I can say to you, if I asked a woman
:15:32. > :15:35.to go and do something, the immediate reaction is I can can't
:15:35. > :15:40.do that. There is a confidence issue there, and we have to look at
:15:40. > :15:48.that and what do we need to put in place to give women the confidence
:15:48. > :15:55.to go and say, right I'm going to stand as a public representative.
:15:55. > :15:59.Calm down dear. Listen. Listen to the doctor. Calm down and listen to
:15:59. > :16:04.the doctor. David Cameron denied been sexist but many women are put
:16:04. > :16:10.off by whey they see as the male and boar Irish nature of politics.
:16:10. > :16:17.I said calm down. So how do the parties get more female involvement
:16:17. > :16:21.and more accurately reflect wider society? In a job many say is 24/7.
:16:21. > :16:26.The Republic is going down the path of quotas. Parties will cease to
:16:26. > :16:29.get state funding after the next general election if they have more
:16:29. > :16:36.than 70% of candidates of either sex, men or women and further
:16:36. > :16:42.penalised if more than 60% by 2020. It is a move supported by Sinn Fein.
:16:42. > :16:47.Many in the SDLP say some merit in quotas but the party hasn't
:16:47. > :16:51.endorsed it. While Alliance and the two main unionist parties oppose
:16:51. > :16:57.the concept. If I was to get here because I was a woman I would doubt
:16:57. > :17:02.myself continually whether I was good enough, and to I have got here
:17:02. > :17:07.I got 4,500 votes and the people were behind me, the party was
:17:07. > :17:11.behind me, I got so much encouragement and I think that,
:17:11. > :17:15.that gives you the confidence to go forward. Merit. Any woman who gets
:17:15. > :17:21.elected, regardless of their ideology or political opinions,
:17:21. > :17:25.whether they are from the left or the right, any woman has had to do
:17:25. > :17:29.twice the amount of work. Let me tell you that. So anyone who says
:17:29. > :17:33.women aren't here on merit, we are here on merit, but we need to make
:17:33. > :17:37.sure there is a critical mass of women. While the parties here say
:17:37. > :17:42.they would like to see more women MLAs they are nevertheless divided
:17:43. > :17:47.by policies and traditions. Many of Margaret Thatcher's greatest
:17:47. > :17:50.critics were women. Sisterhood has its limits. There is one area where
:17:50. > :17:57.there is agreement. Politics could be more family friendly, for both
:17:57. > :18:01.men and women. I am very fortunate my husband works from home and I
:18:01. > :18:05.represent East Belfast so I don't have to travel that far, so I have
:18:06. > :18:10.made that decision, and you know, my children are picked up and fed
:18:10. > :18:20.in the evening, but it must be very difficult for people from further
:18:20. > :18:24.afield, to do all the travelling etc as well. The Scandinavian
:18:24. > :18:29.country, which put great emphasis on childcare, are often held up as
:18:29. > :18:34.role models for encouraging women's involvement in politics and public
:18:34. > :18:42.life, and the international hit television show features a Danish
:18:42. > :18:50.woman Prime Minister. Within a year, life imitated art. When the country
:18:50. > :18:54.got its first female leader, her husband is the son of a former
:18:54. > :18:57.Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock. Back in Northern Ireland, the
:18:57. > :19:01.students at Queen's University have organised a tea party for
:19:01. > :19:05.international women's day. Long gone are the days when women in
:19:05. > :19:09.political parties made the tea, while the men made the decisions.
:19:09. > :19:13.And while there has been greater female involvement in politics,
:19:13. > :19:18.those lobbying for more believe the parties could do more. The women
:19:18. > :19:21.who are our MLAs have been asked by senior people within the party to
:19:21. > :19:26.run, so this means it is not they are putting themselves forward, and
:19:26. > :19:31.that is maybe not such a barrier, it is the parties need to ask
:19:31. > :19:36.capable women to run, so that could be a quick solution. I think to
:19:36. > :19:40.having more women in political decision making. Having more female
:19:40. > :19:45.MLAs would better reflect the wired society but wouldn't heal the many
:19:45. > :19:52.division and while the tone of political debate might soften, hard
:19:52. > :19:59.to solve problems would remain. One wonders whether she would have been
:19:59. > :20:04.amused. Let us pursue this further with my guests the Alliance MP
:20:04. > :20:11.Naomi Long and Fionola Meredith. You are broadly in favour of quotas
:20:11. > :20:15.but you have some concerns, you talk about the Sarah Palin syndrome.
:20:15. > :20:19.I am broadly in favour of them. I don't like the idea of them, but I
:20:19. > :20:24.think probably, they are necessary, and in the ABC sense of significant
:20:24. > :20:27.progress in terms of getting more women involved. We have to take
:20:27. > :20:32.difficult measure, I understand while female politicians say no, we
:20:32. > :20:37.want to get here on our own merit but the pace of change is so slow.
:20:38. > :20:42.As for the Sarah Palin effect. What I mean by that, is there are some
:20:42. > :20:46.women in politics, already, that I don't particularly like, I don't
:20:46. > :20:51.share their view, I don't share their value bus what I think, and
:20:51. > :20:54.Sarah Palin would be an extreme example I suppose of someone I
:20:54. > :20:58.think would be disastrous in politics, I wouldn't want her to
:20:58. > :21:03.represent me. I would have nothing in common with her except for the
:21:03. > :21:07.family she is -- fact she is a woman and so am I. We need women of
:21:07. > :21:09.all political stripes in politics, right across the board from
:21:09. > :21:15.Conservative to progressive. Because it is a matter of fairness.
:21:15. > :21:23.Women make up more than half the population so their views and all
:21:23. > :21:28.their diversity should be preserved. You are opposed nay -- Naomi. It is
:21:28. > :21:33.not happening so let us have a quota. My argument back on that it
:21:33. > :21:37.is happening. For example in my own party 42% of Government
:21:37. > :21:41.representatives are female. 33% of Parliamentarians are female. We
:21:41. > :21:45.have good reputations at all level. It can happen, but you have to have
:21:45. > :21:48.fairness and for me I joined the Alliance Party because I don't
:21:48. > :21:51.believe discrimination is never right. If you are the man who loses
:21:51. > :21:56.out to the woman who has been positively discriminated for you
:21:56. > :21:59.won't think of it as a positive experience. For me it is about
:21:59. > :22:04.being fair and open but being proactive. When I see talent I want
:22:04. > :22:08.to see it promoted, I want to see the people who have real talent and
:22:08. > :22:11.ability representing the party, it is in the party's interest and mine
:22:11. > :22:15.and in the interest of their constituencies, so whether it is
:22:15. > :22:20.male or fey mail I am going to encourage them to come forward and
:22:21. > :22:27.believe in them. One of the five Cs which our film meanted was culture,
:22:27. > :22:32.and what a quota can do is change it. Look at the 50-50 in the PSNI.
:22:32. > :22:34.That is a way forward. I don't want to get side tracked by that. There
:22:34. > :22:38.were other changes in the organisation, that changes the
:22:38. > :22:43.dynamics, I think we need to change the culture, I agree with that. You
:22:43. > :22:47.can change it in an organisation, I would hate women to think all men
:22:47. > :22:50.are hostile to them. I don't think that. But when things are wrong you
:22:50. > :22:54.have to take uncomfortable steps some times to change them. I think
:22:54. > :22:57.50-50 in the police is relevant here, because that was manifestly
:22:57. > :23:02.wrong, and we had to take those steps and there is a cost to taking
:23:02. > :23:08.those steps and there would be a cost here. I don't like the idea of
:23:08. > :23:13.quotas but change is so patheticly slow. There are so many pompous old
:23:13. > :23:18.wind bags dominating the political system. How will we change that?
:23:18. > :23:24.think there are lots of ways. You can encourage women to put their
:23:24. > :23:28.names forward. You can be a role model. It is too slow. I am not
:23:28. > :23:33.sure it S for example in my constituency in East Belfast we
:23:33. > :23:39.have two assembly members. 50 percent of councillors are female.
:23:39. > :23:42.That happened in a short period. you have a quota doesn't it make
:23:42. > :23:46.the parties look harder for suitable women? I don't think it
:23:46. > :23:50.does. What it can do is set up a negative dynamic where people they
:23:50. > :23:57.that in some way even though they have done the work, even though
:23:57. > :24:00.they are credible, they are at a disadvantage because they are male.
:24:00. > :24:03.In alliance when we go through candidate selection we are looking
:24:03. > :24:08.for the best person. That best person more than half the time will
:24:08. > :24:12.be a woman, so that is what we should be trying to find. I don't
:24:12. > :24:16.have an issue with there being lots of women in politic. I have an
:24:16. > :24:20.issue of them being advantaged over their male counterpart, because
:24:20. > :24:25.that can can set up negative dynamics. They need a leg up to get
:24:25. > :24:29.in. I don't think they do. I think they can do it for themselves, what
:24:29. > :24:33.we need to to encourage them to believe they K. That is a point
:24:33. > :24:36.that should be emphasised, confidence was mentioned the five
:24:37. > :24:41.cfplts. Confidence is at the top of the pile I used to work for an
:24:41. > :24:48.organisation that encouraged women to get into politics, when I went
:24:48. > :24:52.out an did workshops this is what came across. "Oh no, I couldn't do
:24:52. > :24:56.that." If there are these wind bag, they are not the once who will be
:24:56. > :25:00.Tay saying come on you can do this? They might not. I would hope none
:25:00. > :25:04.of my colleagues fall into that category. Maybe I do, I don't know.
:25:04. > :25:08.I think what we try to do is find talent that comes through the party
:25:08. > :25:12.and promote it. That is important. The other thing we need to bear in
:25:12. > :25:16.mind is we have to be potstive about the job we do, if it is going
:25:16. > :25:22.to be attractive to other people. I know lots of men who find
:25:22. > :25:25.politicians wind bags and who would be able to bring something new to
:25:25. > :25:28.politics. It is about diversifying the number of people in politics so
:25:28. > :25:32.it is more representative. It is ability retention. This is
:25:32. > :25:37.important, getting people elected or selected is not the end of the
:25:37. > :25:43.road. It is making the job such people can do it and be rewarded be
:25:43. > :25:48.it. At the beginning of the bar period it is something like al-42
:25:48. > :25:52.women to men, after seven years it has gone down to 50-50. That
:25:52. > :25:58.implies women will drop out. That probably has a lot to do with
:25:58. > :26:01.family and childcare. One of the five Cs. It is hard for women, I
:26:01. > :26:04.wouldn't want to be a politician because I am a mum and have
:26:04. > :26:08.prioritise, it would be difficult but it is necessary that more
:26:08. > :26:13.women's voices are heard, but it can't just be an aspirational thing
:26:13. > :26:17.that hopefully it will happen with time and we kirge women. We need to
:26:17. > :26:22.take more definite measures and you are talking about your party but
:26:22. > :26:29.parties in general need to be more open, and demonstrate it.
:26:29. > :26:34.statistic, one in five, 18% of MLAs are women, in Wales 41.7% are women.
:26:34. > :26:40.In Scotland 34.9. Westminster it is 22. In Dublin it is 15. That is why
:26:40. > :26:44.they are taking action. We are not mangeing quick progress. You need
:26:44. > :26:47.to put that to the parties who aren't stepping up. From my
:26:47. > :26:50.perspective there are two principles. The one of fairness in
:26:50. > :26:54.terms of selection and that is importantment and the other is the
:26:54. > :27:00.one of fairnesss in terms of reputation. That should bring
:27:00. > :27:04.forward more women. They are not in conflict. I don't think it is just
:27:04. > :27:08.aspirational. For me it is a practical thing, about how we do
:27:08. > :27:11.our politics, when, how we get young women engaged, how we reach
:27:11. > :27:18.out to them, how we give them the confidence to believe if they want
:27:18. > :27:21.to try something they can. It is not just in politics it is in non-
:27:21. > :27:27.traditional sectors I am inusual if I have never worked in a predop
:27:27. > :27:33.naantly female arena. I worked as an engineer. That probably stood
:27:33. > :27:38.you in good stead. We have to let women have choices. It is not about
:27:38. > :27:42.forces them. It is facilitating them to do it. There are outdated
:27:42. > :27:46.ideas about women in this country, that women aren't good leaders,
:27:46. > :27:51.they don't have the clout that women maybe premenstrual and people
:27:51. > :27:55.don't say them, be those ideas are still there and holds women back
:27:55. > :28:01.too. I agree. Thank you both very much indeed. There we must leave it.
:28:01. > :28:11.We will do it again next week at the usual times. I hope you join me.
:28:11. > :28:15.
:28:15. > :28:21.What kept you? Don't ask. Some carry on this week Northern Ireland,
:28:21. > :28:28.we have torld world's best golfer, film-makers and politician, two out
:28:28. > :28:36.of three aren't bad. Alex Attwood on his own is more influential. The
:28:36. > :28:40.security guards have more power than Tom Elliott. If our
:28:40. > :28:44.politicians arblt hospitalable they are going to football you. Can't go
:28:44. > :28:52.to a soccer match without some politician making an important