Campaigners have welcomed a committment from the national theatre, The Abbey, to tackle gender inequality.

It follows an outcry over a lack of women playwrights and directors its 2016 centenary programme titled "Waking the Nation".

The social media campaign, under the WakingTheFeminists hashtag, pointed out just 1 out of the 10 plays in the programme are written by a woman while 3 out of 10 are directed by women.

The Board of the Abbey today said it is committed to working with the Abbey's Director Fiach Mac Conghail and the incoming Directors to develop a comprehensive policy and detailed plan to help address gender equality, with the cooperation and input of the wider Irish theatre community.