Women in Leadership are leading the way...!

Minister for Justice, MLA Claire Sugden and Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Alderman Maura Hickey were key speakers at the recent '˜Women in Leadership' event.

Attending the Women in Leadership conference at Flowerfield, Portstewart in association with Women in Business organised by the Causeway Enterprise Agency in co-operation with the Causeway Coast and Glens Council are l-r Mayor Ald Maura Hickey, Justice Minister Claire Sugden MLA, CEO Causeway Enterprise Agency Jayne Taggart and Conference Chair Sarah Travers. WiB07 Flowerfield

Organised by the Causeway Enterprise Agency in association with Women in Business on September 9 at Flowerfield Arts Centre Portstewart, it brought together female leaders to hear the political leaders speak.

Hosted by media presenter Sarah Travers, the event was a huge success, with women attending from all over the borough to hear the ladies share their leadership experiences and skills, as they both work in our political arena representing very different communities.

Minister for Justice Claire Sugden shared her journey on how she achieved her role, and how she will continue to represent her local constituency as this is where she was originally voted into office.

Sarah Ramsey of the Bar Council, Justice Minister Claire Sugden with Yvonne Boyle of Versify at the Women in Leadership conference at Flowerfield, Portstewart in association with Women in Business organised by the Causeway Enterprise Agency in co-operation with the Causeway Coast and Glens Council. WiB16 Flowerfield

Minister Sugden is a strong role model, who is young, vibrant and open to discussing issues which many other political leaders tend to shy away from.

As an Independent, she also has the political opportunity to address issues and push the system farther than many of her counterparts due to their party politic restrictions.

Mayor Maura Hickey was equally engaging as she took guests through her journey of the Troubles when living in Belfast during the 70s, bringing up a family, and spoke about how she ran a campaign to ensure the first SDLP representative was voted into Belfast City Council.

She has continued her journey when she moved to Portstewart and strongly believes in the north coast and what the borough can achieve with the right leadership.

Young Sam with mum Karice Hutchinson of the Ulster University at the Women in Leadership conference at Flowerfield, Portstewart in association with Women in Business organised by the Causeway Enterprise Agency in co-operation with the Causeway Coast and Glens Council. WiB14 Flowerfield

Maura is a leader in her local party, and continues to drive development forward for the Borough as she aims to represent both sides of the community.

Both ladies worked together when they were councillors based at Coleraine Borough Council and endeavour to deliver strong leadership in their fields.

Full story online!