A YEAR to the day after its foundation, the Women's Coalition published its manifesto for its first Westminster election with the slogan "Vote women for a change
The party is fielding three candidates: Ms Bronagh Hinds in North Antrim, Ms Annie Campbell in Belfast South and Ms Jane Morrice in North Down.
None of them realistically expects to win seats. But they all expect to increase their vote, and get a mandate to continue the work of the Women's Coalition, which now has 500 members, throughout Northern Ireland.
Their priorities are peace, poverty and public services, according to Ms Hinds. She pointed out that all Northern Ireland representatives in Westminster and the European Parliament were men. Women, who had succeeded in building bridges at community level, could bring a new vision, and a new way of doing thing's to politics in Northern Ireland.
"Is it really possible that we will be in the 21st century and still looking backwards instead of forwards?" she asked.
"The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition does not believe in raising people's passions for political advantage. We do believe in the need to address people's fears, especially their fears about change. But there must be change, and we believe in that change.
Ms Annie Campbell, a former trade union activist and community worker, said that there were over 5,000 community groups in Northern Ireland, involving 95,000 people. "We believe we should shape a political system that can reach beyond the elected politicians and draw on the expertise of the many other interests in our society," she said.
Ms Jane Morrice is a former BBC journalist and also was the representative of the European Commission in Belfast.