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Back in January of 2022, after one too many incidents surrounding women’s safety in night club settings, Meg Bergin decided to stop hoping for improvement and set about creating it. Five months later, the inaugural Girl’s Room event was held, and a safe, open space for women and nonbinary people was born.
On top of that, last year, Meg also launched curated, a platform dedicated to connecting and celebrating Dublin’s creative scene. So, between booking spaces, vendors and DJs, and curating gigs, exhibitions and showcases, this is one multi-hyphenate Irish creative who, quite literally, works tirelessly to bring people together and shine that gorgeous golden spotlight on all of those around her.
To put it simply, Meg Bergin is someone who gets things done.
We caught up with the organiser extraordinaire to talk about carving out a successful niche, working in a male-dominated industry, and detaching yourself from external validation…
It is for sure heavily male-dominated. It’s funny though, I sort of exist within a little bubble where most of the people I work alongside are women or nonbinary because I made it my mission from the beginning to build a strong network from the start. I really wanted to create opportunities and prioritise working with people who are more often marginalised in the industry.
I have had male promoters contact me and ask how they can start a women-only club and if I can give them advice on how to get started. To which, I, of course, do not respond.
Simultaneously, however, I have received a lot of support from lads across the creative industry too and even formed some really lovely friendships. An interesting thing to note, at the last curated gig, the audience was majority guys AND it was an all-women lineup. They were not shy about cheering, singing, and bopping along, and even praising and chatting to the artists after the show -–showing genuine appreciation and love. As they should – but that really warmed my heart.
In terms of safeguarding, there are a few things I have in place. Firstly, we have a zero-tolerance policy for any and all forms of harassment and discrimination. We also have optional consent bands for people who are open to meeting someone – be that platonically or romantically.
I set up a group chat the week of each event so people can arrange. In that chat, people can also plan their routes home. This is ideal for people coming solo or anyone looking to make some new pals. At each event, there will be a gang of people arriving together who have met at the pre-drinks and some friendships have been formed from it which is so lovely!
Featured image via YEWTH MAGAZINE//REBECCA EWNETU & LUZDACOSTAPHOTO.