No need to feel second best in the west

At a recent discussion, one of the questions I was asked was if, as a female, I feel disadvantaged living in the West of Ireland, Instantly I said no, and then as I listened to some of the others speakers, I had time to reflect and thought hard about the question just asked. I love life, I do love where I live, I am so very thankful to have had the most wonderful opportunities and have full intentions of making the most of all future opportunities. I believe life is for living to the best you can, no matter who, what and where you’re from. We can only make the most of what we have, of what we know and of what we want within our capabilities.

If we aim for what’s possible and achievable, then are we self-fulfilled? Sometimes, yes. But sometimes our achievements make us want more. This is good because it keeps us going, it keeps us flourishing and it makes life fun.

I do think if I grew up and lived somewhere else I might not have achieved as much as I have and am very thankful to many, many people for helping, supporting and enabling me to achieve many things. Yes, sometimes things were difficult and of course sometimes things still are but things are difficult for many and I do think in difficult situations that you get a strength from somewhere that powers you through.

In our younger days we cycled to school, training, to anything that we could and to meet our friends on long summer days. Our bikes were our transport and we loved it. As females we never felt in danger; yes, there were dangers and we were aware but we were always in gangs. We had an endurance to keep going because there were no phones, no shops on route, no food, except in the nearest friend’s house on the way home. We learnt so much and educated ourselves so well by exploring our hinterlands, the obstacles along the way taught us how to overcome problems, fears and dilemmas, and stood to us all as we went on to explore our worlds. We were never injured, the bike loosening out our legs before and after training. Yes, we had sweets and treats but we knew when to stop.

Everyone in the family helped out in many ways and relationships developed through hard work, through good and bad times, the grandparents watching the children, the children growing up caring for grandparents, experiencing ill health, death, sadness, traumatic experiences. But that’s life and as youngers that’s what we were experiencing: life’s simplicities.

Time moves on and you must move on to fulfil your education, your career, your dreams, with no daily bus service, no daily train, but a determination to pursue an education and sport. We wanted it all, travelling away for college and returning back home at weekends for sports. Again, it’s tough but one doesn’t notice, the matches are won, the cycles continue and the friendships still explored. Extremely happy times keep flowing, family continue to work together to support one another. The drive and endurance to keep going is what kept us studying, working, partying, travelling and having fun.

Life moves through the stages and one moves back to the west to settle with a soulmate, to fulfil an ambition of impowering others in the region, with knowledge, education and dreams. Every morning I wake I have a dream, an ambition, a to-do list, and I happily try and achieve what I can. If I don’t, there is always tomorrow and the dream continues.

I think back to the question asked: as a female do I feel disadvantaged in the west? There still is no bus, there still is no train and no, I can’t cycle to work – the roads have become too dangerous. I dream someday of commuting someway other than burning diesel on dangerous roads, where one can experience the adventures and explorations like in our younger days, where one can cycle to the county town for work or hop on a bus to the shop.

As a young female, my wonderful family and friends rocked in to allow me pursue a career of responsibility where the mind needed to be fresh, where I could fully commit, the challenges of parenting overcome not by creche or childcare facilities but by support from loved ones and also a supportive work environment. The shorter days and longer holidays also allow a balance to happen.

At another recent athletics event in our National Stadium in Abbotstown, I am reminded of the challenges one must overcome to travel for hours just to compete on the national stage, the facilities we lack that our competitors gain, but then I wonder, if one sprints around the hills and boreens of South Mayo, against wind and rain, in the dark, when one then moves indoors to race, does it feel easier?

When I see the recovery and strength facilities available on our competitors’ doorstep, I then consider how we have the lakes, the mountains, the trails, the acres of grass, and the natural rehabilitation of an ice-cold river or the cycling to training to loosen one up. We have homegrown supplies and fresh air that no amount of money can buy. With zero indoor track training behind us, with the first baton practice done minutes before the start, we win silver senior and so I think we must be doing something right.

I watch our daughter now growing up in a similar environment, where the bikes are their fastest mode of transport, where hanging down at the pitch with friends is still fun, where the explorations and adventures are now teaching them a toughness that will enable them to gain a strength to overcome the harder days ahead.

They still have no bus to hop on, they still cannot cycle to the county town, the nearest pool is still 20 minutes away, they still will need to move away to pursue their education and fulfil their career dreams, they still will need to travel home to continue their sports. No creches, childcare or trains exist, and so not a lot has changed, but they have family, friends and a freedom that cannot be replaced. They face many obstacles and challenges just like we did but these are different, the challenges sometimes become greater, the obstacles higher but I see an even greater strength, a greater determination because we live in an ever more competitive, demanding world.

I do think the cycles to training, the explorations with friends, the long summer days of adventures, will form lasting happy memories and they too will feel privileged to have lived where they have. Will they return? I am not so sure, but if we as a generation do our best to constantly improve, promote and develop the west, it will still have the beauty, the freedom and the appeal.

I have travelled many places but have always returned because the West of Ireland instils in me a pride, a strength, a toughness. Do I feel disadvantaged as a female to live in the west? The answer is a resounding no.

With lots of calendar celebration days around this time – Women in Sports Week, International Women’s Day, St Brigid’s Day just past, St Patrick’s Day soon arriving, and Mother’s Day to mention a few – I think we as females need to inspire, support and try to make the most of what we have got, to create a future for females where they can freely and safely travel to work, where they can reach a work-life balance where their children are cared for, where they can pursue a sporting career to the best of their ability and most of all, manage it all.

To all females out there, there is an inner-strength in all of us wherever we maybe, whatever we do and whatever we want to do. It’s how we go about bringing this out is what sometimes can make the difference.

Tomorrow I will see the sun rise over the mountains, I will run the boreens in a westerly March breeze, I will get the younger generations up for school, I will drive the roads to work, and I will have happiness, goals and a to-do list. The dream continues as I meander my way as a female through another brilliant day in the West of Ireland.