Monthly Archives: May 2014

Mixed Picture for Women in Local Elections 2014

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To those that have been elected – Congratulations. To those who were not elected – sincerest sympathies but very well done for having the courage to put yourself forward.

The results are all now in and the presence of women in electoral politics has worsened in Cork City with the number going from 6 down to 5.

In Cork County there are now 13 women out of a total of 55 councillors. This is an improvement to just under 24%.

Blarney-Macroom and Cork City North East have the dubious honour of not returning any women candidates. Ballincollig – Carrigaline achieved the highest percentage of women candidates returned at 30%.

The presence of women at the decision making table is crucial. As half of the population women should be half of the representation – equal to men. Within political parties it is important that women see themselves as potential candidates and it is crucial that the party leadership understand the importance of gender balance on the party ticket. The 5050 group will continue to press for the greater presence of women in electoral politics.

Dr Theresa Reidy (UCC) has summarised the outcome in the rest of the country

Women Win the Day

Women Candidates gather at Sligo County Council Offices

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Will the local elections on 23rd May result in a better gender balance on Sligo County Council?  Currently, 19 men and 6 women have been serving on the Council for the past five years so there is much room for improvement in order to reach a better gender balance.

At a national level just 17% of seats in local government are occupied by women. This election sees a total of 2040 candidates contesting council seats, 1599 (78.4%) men and 441 (21.6%) women. While men continue to dominate the political arena, there is some increase in the figures in comparison to five years ago when 314 (17.2%) of the total number of candidates were women.

In Sligo between the two electoral areas nine  women are running as candidates – seven in the Sligo electoral area and two in the Ballymote/Tubbercurry area.  Four incumbents are standing again – Marcella McGarry (Labour),  Rosaleen O’Grady (Fianna Fail) and Independents, Margaret Gormley and Veronica Cawley.  Newcomers to the field are:  Sinead Maguire (Fine Gael) and four Independents Marie Casserly, Patricia Gardiner, Martina Butler and Mary Tuffy.

“One certain way to improve the number of women in Sligo County Council is for every voter to consider all the candidates carefully and to think about the lack of equality in our political process. Just over 50% of the population are women; that figure should be echoed in our political system, said Nóirin Clancy of 5050 North West.

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Back row:  Patricia Gardiner (IND), Veronica Cawley (IND), Martina Butler (IND), Marcella McGarry (LAB), Sinead Maguire (FG) and Marie Casserley (IND); all from Sligo electoral area (only one missing is Rosaleen o’Grady FF)
in front:  Mary Tuffy (IND) and Margatet Gormley (IND) for Ballymote/Tubercurry electoral area