Author Archives: Colette Finn

Women in Politics – Situation in the North West

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Will the local elections in May result in more women sitting in our councils around the North West?  So far:

  • In Sligo of the 31 candidates 24 are men and 7 are women.
  • In Leitrim of the 24 candidates 19 are men and 5 are women.
  • In Donegal of the 43 candidates there are 37 men and 6 women

The 5050 Group is campaigning to encourage and support more women in politics and public life. The new gender quota legislation, which will ensure more women candidates, does not take effect until the next general election. However the impact of the legislation is beginning to be felt – in some areas.  Across the country so far, 23% of all local election candidates are women; this compares with 17% five years ago in 2009.

We have become used to the majority of our public representatives being men. Currently, men account for 84% of all our elected representatives! One imagines there would be outrage if men were as poorly represented in our council chambers.

The 5050 Group plans to observe the progress of the local elections as political parties and independents gear up for the campaign trail and the elections in May and to encourage and support the election of women.

“One certain way to improve the number of women in our council chambers 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 Nóirín Clancy of 5050 North West.

In Sligo it is very disappointing how few women the main parties have selected. With two Fine Gael women Councillors resigning one would have expected the party would at least try to maintain their female numbers; however, Sinead Maguire is their only woman candidate.  Likewise, Fianna Fail and Labour have their two incumbents, Rosaleen O’Grady and Marcella McGarry running again.   It is interesting to note of the six independents, four are woman and it is positive to see two newcomers with Marie Casserley and Mary Tuffy.

The picture in Leitrim and Donegal is no different.  In the Donegal electoral area, out of six candidates, just one female candidate, Niamh Kennedy, is running as an Independent, Fianna  Fail and Labour have still to make their selections in this area. Hopefully, Fianna Fail will replicate the gender balance achieved in the Inishowen electoral area where they’ve selected two women (incumbent Rena Donaghey and newcomer, Mary McCauley) and two men. In the remaining four electoral areas where they’ve yet to hold conventions it will be interesting to see if we see such ideal outcomes.

In Leitrim, no big changes with a predominantly male line up.  In North Leitrim, Mary Bohan and Siobhan McGloin are running to hold on to their seats and just two new women – Fine Gael’s, Siobhan Finnegan McElgunn and Sinn Fein’s Maureen Martin will run in the south of the county.

While nationally there is an increase in the number of female candidates in this year’s local elections, an interesting geographical dimension is emerging.  Adrian Kavanagh, NUI Maynooth who maintains a blog listing all candidates, highlights that in the more urban constituencies female candidates account for 29% but only 18.2% in the more rural constituencies. Quotas are part of the solution but it is evident that much more is required to transform the male dominated political system.  More women need to make the leap from the community to the political arena.  Political parties need to examine more closely what is stopping women coming forward and getting selected and use their power to start making politics more women and family friendly.

 

 

 

Casting Feminism Aside – Not Just Yet!

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This is a letter that I penned to the Cork Independent published today. It was in response to an article written in the previous week’s edition. This article reckoned that Feminism was no longer necessary.

Dear Editor,

I was prepared to have my blood boil by Sandra Murphy’s article (20/2/2014) casting Feminism Aside. However I thought rather than quietly fuming I would put pen to paper and caution ‘not just yet’ Feminism does get bad press because it tends to conjure up a shrill unattractive woman – believe it or not men can be feminists as well. Feminism actually means equality between the sexes. It means that women should have the same rights and responsibilities as men and vice versa. Now who can argue with that? However what Sandra seems to be arguing is that she will take the rights – to own her own business, to borrow money without her husband’s permission, to continue in paid employment if she so chooses but she wants someone else to be responsible for her welfare. My advice – be careful what you wish for.

We in the 5050 Group are a group of volunteers promoting 50:50 representation in politics. Women are half the population and therefore in a properly functioning democracy we should be half the representation. However for every six politicians in this state five of them are men. That is simply unfair and is unrepresentative. Women have different experiences to men and therefore as women we need to be at the decision making table. Our children and our grandchildren’s lives will be affected by the political decisions that are being made today.

In the upcoming local and european elections I would urge people to consider becoming active in canvassing for women candidates. Find a woman candidate that represents your politics and help them to get elected. Since 1992 the percentage of women elected to the Dail has gone from 12 to 16. We have had the equality rhetoric now we want action. The political parties have been forced to field more women candidates with the introduction of candidate selection gender quotas for the next general election.

The argument goes that politics is a man’s world and that women do not want to be politicians. Rather like Sandra’s argument that women ‘want’ to be minded. As adults we all need care and we all need those who will look out for us in times of trouble. However that does not mean that we should be content with others in the decision making role or that it is unfeminine to want to take responsibility for our own destiny. Women face particular barriers when it comes to competing in the political world namely childcare, culture, confidence and cash. The gendered nature of childcare is evidenced in the 2011 Census with 500,000 women working in the home versus 9,600 men. Childcare is not a 9-5 occupation its 24/7.

Some men will be displaced by the increased participation of women, so it is not surprising that some will get upset. Indeed it seems women like Betty want to see the status quo remain. However some men are supportive and indeed are prepared to step aside because they accept the justice argument. Others like the system the way it is. Gender is a significant category when it comes to representation. Women are half the population. In a properly functioning democracy women should be half the representation. The road to 50:50 is still a long way off so when Sandra wants to cast feminism aside I say wait until we have 50:50.