Ruth Davis is standing on the platform of Belfast's
Central Station blowing a whistle to start a train. The voiceover of reporter
Paul Clark informs us that she had just been voted Northern Ireland Railways'
'Personality Girl'. She is shown working with parcels and we are told she
originally worked with computers, but disliked the office and took a job as a
porter. Now she has successfully managed to become a train conductor, having
been the only woman to apply.
Much of the interview with both Ruth and her boss in the
company focuses on how she might be able to handle an unruly passenger - the
implication being that women can't manage such aspects of the job. The report
mentions that Ruth is the first ever female conductor on Northern Ireland's
railways in the 150 years since the running of the first train in Ireland.
The idea that a woman
working on a train might be newsworthy may seem hard to comprehend today and
some of the questioning, as well as terms like 'Personality Girl' display a
casual sexism which would be challenged today. It's thanks to trailblazers like
Ruth taking on jobs previously set aside for men that this kind of equality no
longer seems at all remarkable.