I MADE A MISTAKE BUT EVENT WAS BETTER IN END, SAYS FF SENATOR
SENATOR Lisa Chambers has admitted that her ‘mistake’ over a lack of diversity at a Fianna Fáil health conference ultimately made the event stronger. There was controversy over the event last week after an advertisement for the conference was shared on Fianna Fáil’s Twitter page. Organisers suffered a backlash after it emerged that no people of colour, members of the Travelling community or transgender representatives were originally listed to speak at the event. The event – dubbed a ‘rich woman’s conference’ on Liveline last week – went ahead yesterday, with new speakers added from a variety of backgrounds. The Mayo-based senator described the conference as ‘positive’ and said all speakers added to the line-up were happy to be involved. ‘Having made the mistake and having added additional speakers, it actually made the conference better,’ she said. ‘The panels were much better. I think it was a good thing, I have no problem owning the mistake and fixing it.’
A poster advertising the conference noted that speakers included influencer Rosanna Davison, businesswoman Norah Casey, journalist Alison O’Connor, author Stefanie Preissner, Newstalk presenter Dr Ciara Kelly ‘and more’.
The Eventbrite page for the event lists a number of other speakers, including Health Minister Stephen Donnelly. This created significant criticism online, with many questioning why more diverse speakers were not included in the lineup. At the time, Fianna Fáil sources said that different representative groups partake in the conference from the audience. But they admitted this was not communicated adequately on the poster.