Irene was a good student and managed to finish her economics degree at the Royal Athenaeum of Waremme in 1942.
[5] The Femmes Prévoyantes Socialistes (FPS) movement has evolved greatly since the time when Irene Pétry inaugurated it.
Today, this movement prioritizes the equality of men and women (fighting wage inequality and the issue of part-time work).
The FPS movement also militates for the rights of citizens (voluntary termination of pregnancy, fight against insecurity) while conducting prevention campaigns with the aim of raising citizens' awareness about the fight against domestic violence, prevention of bulimia and anorexia, and screening for breast cancer.
[4] She also became deputy to the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs Minister at the time, Renaat Van Elslande, a Belgian politician of the Flemish Social Christian Party (Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams).
In October 1976, following the fusion of the Belgian municipalities, she became communal councilor at Sprimont, for a period of 7 years (from 1977 to 1984).
The president of the Senate at that time was Pierre Harmel from the PSC (Centre démocrate humaniste) between 1973 and 1977.
Irène Pétry had some responsibility for the institutional evolution of the state, since she was a directly elected senator.
She was rapporteur of the Senate Committee that was defining new structures that would ultimately be adopted by the Belgian state.
During the same period, in 1978 she created a political association called "Socialist Tribunes" with Ernest Glinne and Jacques Yerna.
In 1980 she became the seventh president of the Cultural Council of the French Community when she succeeded Léon Hurez.
[8] Although this title does not give any particular rights, it recognizes great services rendered to the country and the status of a "wise person".
[8] Irène Pétry wrote two articles for the feminist periodical Les Cahiers du GRIF.
[13] Some quotes from Irène Pétry: Too often, it is need that drives women to work and all of them are still needed at home.What makes our feminine mutuality a living, dynamic and flourishing women's movement is its tireless action in the social, educational and advocacy fields.It has never been said that the man who wanted to devote himself to his role as a father should not be prevented from doing so for economic reasons.