Four amazing women take to the stage at the Embassy of Ireland’s to celebrate International Women’s Day

The creative spirit of femininity was alive and well at the Embassy of Ireland, London in early March as members of the Women’s Irish Network (WIN) and guests of the Ambassador of Ireland, Adrian O’Neill joined to celebrate International Women’s Day.

Around 150 members of the London-Irish community attended the reception in West London as four outstanding women from the worlds of art, music and business shared remarks and their interpretations of the power of womanhood.

Award-winning entrepreneur, Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh, Inventor and CEO of Sugru served as keynote speaker for what was third annual joint International Women’s Day reception, kindly hosted by the
Embassy of Ireland.

Counsellor (Brexit & EU Affairs), Ms Nicole Mannion opened the celebrations, welcoming guests and discussing the importance of female leadership, highlighting funding projects put in place by the
Embassy of Ireland to support female entrepreneurship.

Chair of the Women’s Irish Network, Angela Brady OBE echoed Councillor Mannion’s remarks as she introduced the keynote speaker of the event Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh of Sugru to the stage.

Kilkenny-born Jane spoke of the success of Sugru, the world’s first mouldable glue, which came about during an experiment as a graduate almost 20 years ago. Since then Sugru has been used to fix over 20 million items in 175 countries globally and was named one of Time’s top 25 inventions of 2010, ahead of the Apple iPod.

With the current climate in mind, Jane emphasised the importance of fixing instead of buying and shared her delight that her invention has supported a sustainable movement. Jane told of Sugru’s global community of crafters and DIYers who believe that little fixes can make a big difference.

Irish Mezzo-soprano Jessica Costelloe was the final woman to take the stage, performing a stunning rendition of Four Irish Fields leaving the 150 strong guests in awe. Before her performance, she spoke of the strength and resilience which Irish women share.

Founded over 30 years ago London-based voluntary organisation WIN’s mission is to ‘empower, education and enhance the lives of women’. Each year WIN organises a series of business and social events to fulfil their mission of supporting women and children’s charities through their partnership with the Irish Youth Foundation (UK). To date WIN has donated £550,000 which has been raised through events and annual memberships.

In addition to International Women’s Day, WIN host regular business-social events which showcase exceptional female leaders. Recent guests have included Image Entrepreneur of the Year Mairead Mackle, Cristian Dior Curator Orielle Cullen and world-famous chef Darina Allen.

WIN patrons include Baroness May Blood MBE, Rosaleen Blaire, CBR and Mary Clancy Hatch. Over the years, WIN has attracted high profile members with entrepreneur Norah Casey, magazine editor Trish Halpin and broadcaster Maxine Mawhinney all among the WIN’s ambassadors.

The Women’s Irish Network membership is open to London-based women from all walks of life, with current members representing a variety of backgrounds from business to fashion to architecture to not-for-profits and beyond. Above all, WIN aims to offer members a space to meet and informally network with other likeminded women, making professional connections and friendships along the way.

Sugru kindly sponsored sample packs of Sugru for guest and encourage all attendees to join their Sugru challenge by sharing what they fix or make using #MySugruFix on Twitter or Facebook.