Continuing the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day ‘Give To Gain’ NIPSA are sharing with members a series of personal stories from some of our female activists who hold leadership positions/roles within our Trade Union to highlight the importance of us sharing our knowledge, our experience and our journey within NIPSA with others.
Tina Creaney has held many roles within NIPSA including Branch Secretary (Department for Communities), Chair of the SSA and member of the Civil Service Group Executive. Tine is currently Seconded to NIPSA as the Departmental Secretary in the Department for Communities (DfC), is a member of NIPSA General Council, the NIPSA Equality Committees Chair, a member of the NIPSA Global Solidarity Committee and finally not only does she sit on the NIC ICTU Women’s Committee but is also the current Chair of the Committee.
Tina Creaney’s story:
I joined the NICS in November 1991. My trainer had issues with NIPSA so chased any union reps away from our desk. The same day my training finished, and I moved away from him, I joined NIPSA.
For the next decade I was an ordinary member. Voting on ballots and joining any industrial action that was called. I never really thought about needing the union or what it could do for me or what I could do for it. Then a rep and close friend, John Toal, helped my partner through very difficult dark times due to work-related stress and I realised what the Union and the NIPSA family is about and I wanted to give something back and got elected to the Committee at an AGM.
From the very first day, I struggled with bullying on that Committee. The old guard were too comfortable in their apathy and didn’t want us upstarts trying to make the Branch function for the members. I will be honest – I struggled at the start and many times thought about stepping back. I am not naturally a confrontational person. When I know what I am talking about, I am confident to debate any matter but in Trade Union circles I felt the aggression and, I will be blunt, misogyny was something I struggled with a lot.
I had many good mentors however, both male and female such as John, Gerry Malone, John McCloskey, Kerrin Joiner, Maria Morgan and Carmel Gates to name a few. As my confidence and experience grew, I started to become more active in NIPSA and have held many roles at various times: Branch Secretary, Chair of the SSA, Civil Service Group Executive and NIPSA Equality Committees Chair and I’m on the NIC ICTU Women’s Committee and the current Chair (I think I am collecting Chairs -soon I’ll have a set). I am also currently Seconded to NIPSA as the Departmental Secretary in the Department for Communities (DfC) and a current member of NIPSA General Council.
I have been fortunate enough to go on the ICTU Women in Leadership Training Course in 2020 – just before lockdown in 2020. I found it very enlightening and empowering. It encouraged me to look at myself and identify weaknesses and strengths and leadership skills and where they can be improved and what my strengths are. The sisterhood and how the other women lifted each other and promoted each other’s strengths was an education. The mentoring of each other was one of the main aspects of the course and while NIPSA do not have a formal mentoring programme, we do have strong female comrades that help and support us through any issue and there to offer advice and experience. You just need to reach out.
It also taught me the difference in most men and women – when given an opportunity to do something, a woman will most likely underestimate her abilities and qualifications and not put herself forward. A man often seems to just believe they can do it. Now every time an opportunity comes my way, I don’t think of the reasons why I can’t or shouldn’t, but the reasons I can and should.
In DfC, I have set up a Female Reps forum after surveying the women members to see what the barriers are stopping other women from stepping up to be a NIPSA rep. The forum is there to help and support each other, so no woman feels alone in their Committee and suffer the bullying I did at the beginning. We mentor each other, share experiences and develop factsheets to promote awareness on female health issues and among other things. The aim is to encourage other female NIPSA members to take a more active role in NIPSA and to join Committees and take up officer roles – we are woefully under represented in all areas despite NIPSA having a majority female membership. We are seeing the success in this with an increase from 60 (33%) female DfC reps to over 100 (44%). I would love to see more women join Branch Committees, take up officer roles and get elected to Executive Committees’.
Always remember we can ‘give’ by mentoring, advocating, listening, challenging bias, or sharing our knowledge and that we can create opportunities, build confidence, and uplift the women around us with every act of giving thus supporting gender equality and our community.
Reminder: International Women’s Day 2026 Marches and Rallies – Saturday 7 March
This year there are a number of International Women’s Day marches and rallies being held on Saturday 7 March:
Writers Square, Belfast: from 11.30am with a march setting off at noon/12pm to Belfast City Hall for speeches. The Keynote speaker will be Mary Robinson. Further details about the rally can be found on the Reclaim the Agenda website.
Bishops Gate, Derry: assemble at 1.30pm with a march setting off at 2pm to the Guildhall
NIPSA will be supporting the rallies and would encourage members and your families and friends to come join us. Please do all you can to maximise NIPSAs participation in the 2026 International Women’s Day celebrations demonstrating our support for equality and social justice throughout the world.