Category Archives: Men supporting 50:50

Women and Politics – Cork Branch Meeting – Guest post by Fiona Collins

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 Dr. Margaret O’Keeffe of the Cork Branch of the 50:50 Group highlighted a point at last Monday’s meeting that surprised me. There were 12 Constituencies out of the total of 43  in the last general election that did not have any women on the Ballot Paper. This is a surprising statistic.

 Ciaran Lynch TD is adamant that the Equality Bill is not a gender issue but is a societal one. It is, he says, something that reflects Irish Society as a whole. It does reflect Irish Society but in a very poor light. How come many parties felt that they did not have a female candidate strong enough to represent them on the ballot paper? 

Deputy Billy Kelleher suggested that the traditional party selection process was based on being part of “the club”, that women were not part of and this prohibits women from being selected. 

Deputy Jerry Buttimer suggested three possible barriers to having women in government:

  1. Self Selection Stage – women tend not to put themselves forward.
  2. Party Selection – gatekeepers in the party that choose the candidates
  3. Voting Stage – ensuring that voters do not discriminate

 All parties present on the night welcomed the Equality Bill and rightly so. Quotas work and this has been proven in the many countries that have them. We need them to work in Ireland as well. There are less women currently sitting in the present government than there was in the last one.

 The Equality Bill is needed to get women through the party selection process and onto the ballot paper. It is not about reserved seats or allocated seats. It is purely about giving voters a fair and equitable ballot paper that reflects the society and community that they live in.

 It is about getting parties to follow through on their great aspirations of having more women on the ballot paper. Hopefully this will lead to seats in the Dail for women if the voters see fit.

 Fiona Buckley, UCC, pointed out at the meeting that there are over 2000 groups in Ireland, which are being led by women. It is now time for these women to move from the politics of “the small ‘p’ to Politics of ‘ the big ‘P’. 

I believe the Equality Bill will help to achieve this.  

 

Gender Quotas – a blunt instrument & catalyst by David McCarthy

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by David McCarthy, CEO of MadPride Ireland, director of McCarthy Consulting, campaign director @ David Norris for President – tweets as @mccthyconsulting

Gender Quotas – A blunt instrument but maybe just the catalyst needed to start a wider conversation on social policy?

I am a big believer in Logic, I like to think things through & come to decisions that make sense.  Sometimes however life doesn’t allow you to rely on sense as a guide.  Sometimes (more often than not) politics does not allow you to rely on sense –  politics is most definitely not the bedfellow of Logic.

We live in a Republic…
or, as some would argue, a Representative Democracy.  In either case, our public representatives should reflect a cross section of our society based on gender, age, socio-economic background & (in modern Ireland) ethnicity.

The 31st Dáil therefore is in no way reflective of our society.

Is this unique to Ireland? Not at all, but where we are similar to other states in this, we are poles apart with our approach to social policy & equal treatment in nearly all other aspects of our society.

Let’s take a non gender specific issue – but one that’s dealt with in a gender-biased manner in Ireland – parental leave, with particular attention to paternity leave.

Let’s look at how we deal with it in comparison to Sweden, a progressive social democracy.

In Ireland…
non self-employed working fathers are entitled to no paternity leave.  Some employers may offer time at their own discretion.  Those who work in the Civil Service are allowed a paltry 3 days on the birth or adoption of a new baby.

This, in 2012, in a supposed modern democracy, with an oft-proclaimed social conscience, is simply a disgrace.

Now let’s look at Sweden…
16 months parental leave with the cost shared by both State & employer.  Parental leave is the law & has to be taken.

It is not that simple though… Look at how they frame the legislation:  a minimum of 2 months of 16 most be taken by the ‘minority parent’.  They do not look at parental responsibility as a gender issue they simply see it as a parental issue.

In practice, this system works because it applies to all equally. Employers do not discriminate against you for taking the time, your career progression is not hampered – whether you’re male or female.  Does this sound like anything we know of here in Ireland?

It is common place here to see women’s careers come to a halt at the birth of a child – because their employers now look at them differently.  They see them as ‘less’ than what they were before.  This perpetuates the patriarchal bent to Irish society.

So back to the original question:
Will Gender Quotas solve all these problems?  Probably not, but what I am hoping they will do is open up wider conversation as to what we want our Republic to be.

Do we want to remain in the denial some of us live in – that we are a forward thinking & modern nation – or would we prefer to aspire to more, to a better society that works for all its citizens equally – not based on gender, age or background?

I know the Ireland I want & I for one will keep fighting to achieve it.  I just hope we as a nation are willing to join the fight as this is a Republic worth fighting for.