WCI Limerick research launch - Experience of Being Single: Women's Perspectives
- Jun 4
- 2 min read
Join Women's Collective Ireland - Limerick and EDGE Research Group from the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), as they launch their research titled Experience of Being Single: Women's Perspectives. The event will include the research findings, panel discussion and speakers including Councillor Elisa O'Donovan, Ashanti Bentil-Dhue (aka Unpunishable Woman) and guest speaker Ailbhe Smyth, followed by a light lunch and opportunity for networking. You don't need to be a single woman to attend, this event is open to all!!
Event details
Date: 11th June 2026
Venue: TUS Moylish Campus, Limerick
Time: 10am - 2pm
For more information or to book a place, email: limerick@womenscollective.ie or text/call 087-3283746. Download the joint research report, Experiences of Being Single in Ireland: Women's Perspectives
THE PANELISTS:
Ailbhe Smyth was the founding Head of WERRC (now Women’s and Gender Studies) at UCD where she lectured for many years. She is a long-time feminist, LGBTIQ and socialist activist, and played a prominent role in both the Marriage Equality and Abortion referendums. She is a founding member of Le Cheile: Diversity Not Division, Chair of Women’s Aid, Patron of Women’s Collective Ireland, and a former trustee of Age Action Ireland. Named by Time Magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2019, she is also a Free Woman of the City of Dublin.
Cllr Elisa O’Donovan is a twice-elected councillor in Limerick, where she proudly serves her local community with passion and determination. Alongside her political work, Elisa works as a speech and language therapist, a role that reflects her deep commitment to supporting and empowering people in their everyday lives. She is especially passionate about women’s issues and encouraging more women to step into politics and leadership roles, believing strongly in the importance of representation and support networks for women in public life.
Outside of work, Elisa is a proud single gal who shares her home with her two rescue cats, Mittens and Socks. Known for her warm and approachable nature, she is deeply committed to building inclusive communities and creating positive change across Limerick and beyond.
Ashanti Bentil-Dhue is one of the first public thinkers consistently articulating the emergence of the Single Woman Economy — a cultural, commercial, and organisational shift driven by a generation of women who are financially independent, psychologically self-directed, and building entire lives on their own terms.
Drawing on nine years of organisational consulting, original IP in Invisible Contracts, and a public platform reaching over 200,000 professionals globally, Ashanti brings rare intellectual rigour, cultural authority, and lived experience to conversations that most speakers approach with generalities.
This is not empowerment content. This is economic and cultural intelligence — delivered with the clarity and conviction of someone who has spent a decade studying the systems that shape how women live, work, and spend.
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