UNISON meets Hollywood

16.03.10

The worlds of UNISON and Hollywood come together in New York later this month at the Women in the World event.

Women in the World is a summit and festival from 12-14 March and will feature a special reading of the documentary play Seven, telling the story of female leaders from around the world – and one of those women is former UNISON Northern Ireland secretary Inez McCormack, who will be played by Oscar winning actor Meryl Streep.

Ms McCormack was the leader of UNISON in Northern Ireland from its formation in 1993 and was the first woman president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions from 1999-2001.

She was also an active community leader and played a role in securing the Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland.

She will be attending the Women in the World summit and commented: "It is very humbling to have your life story represented in this way, and a privilege to have an Oscar-winning actor and strong female character like Meryl Streep involved in the dramatisation.

"I have had the privilege of spending a lifetime at the service of warm strong women, who challenged injustice – not just for themselves, but for the people and communities they cared for, and whose only affirmation has been that of their own conscience."

As well as Ms McCormack, other women portrayed in the play include Guatemalan congresswoman Annabella De Leon and the former minister for women's affairs in Cambodia, Mu Sochua.

The summit is the brainchild of former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown and the website she currently edits, The Daily Beast. More than 1,000 women pioneers in government, media, social activism, business and the arts, will be taking part.