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SENATOR AVERIL POWER sent shockwaves through Fianna Fáil last week when she resigned from the party.
Power made up 50% of Fianna Fáil’s female representation in the Oireachtas, alongside Senator Mary White. The party has no women TDs.
Despite this, Fianna Fáil remains optimistic of ensuring at least 30% of its candidates in the general election will be women, however.
A party spokesperson told TheJournal.ie:
“Fianna Fáil has made it clear repeatedly that we will meet the gender targets” having implemented “a range of measures designed to assist the party in reaching the statutory requirement”.
As part of this process the party established the Markievicz Commission, chaired by Professor Yvonne Galligan, to outline specific recommendations on how to target women to become involved in the party at all levels.
The spokesperson said many of those recommendations are “already being implemented, including the roll out of candidate workshops to encourage, identify and support women who may be successful in seeking the party nomination for the general election”.
The party has 19 male TDs, but its list of councillors has quite a few women, although – like most parties – is male-dominated.
Fine Gael, the largest party in the country, has 58 male TDs and 11 women – of this 17 men and two women – Frances Fitzgerald and Heather Humphreys – are ministers.
The party has 14 male Senators and four females, as well as 184 male councillors (79%) and 50 female (21%)
A spokesperson for Fine Gael noted that, as the party that introduced the 30% quota, it is “taking the issue of gender imbalance amongst our politicians very seriously and are hugely invested promoting the increased participation of women at all levels of politics”.
We are confident of meeting the 30% target of female candidates in the next general election. No party has had as many women elected as Fine Gael – more than 30% of all the women ever elected to the Dáil have represented Fine Gael (or its predecessor Cumann na nGaedheal).
The spokesperson said the party has completed gender training with key groups, established an active women’s network amongst female members of the party, and holds events on average once a quarter where women from around the country “get together to exchange ideas”.
Fine Gael has also launched a programme where “politically-ambitious” members are mentored by TDs “so they can learn about the workload of an elected representative, whilst gaining vital insights and advice into planning their own campaigns”.
The junior coalition partner also says it is on track to meet the 30% target, with Labour noting 29% of its candidates in last year’s local elections were women.
The party provides mentoring and training for potential female candidates, as well as financial support.
Labour Women donated €5,177.50 to 34 women candidates running in the local elections. The donations covered items such as childcare costs, election materials and hosting events. At the time, the organisation said it hoped the “modest” fund would go “some way towards alleviating the cash burden on candidates”.
Labour has 26 male TDs and seven females, including Tánaiste Joan Burton, Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan and junior ministers Kathleen Lynch and Ann Phelan. The party has six women senators and 17 female councillors – 35% of the overall total.
Sinn Féin thinks it will surpass the 30% gender quota. A spokesperson said the party is on track to reach about 40% female representation in terms of general election candidates once its selection conventions are completed.
We are at circa 50% of candidates in northern elections and it is party policy to bring the south up to match.
The party’s deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald has facilitated training workshops with female party members across the country in areas such as publicity and policy “in order to encourage those members to consider running for election”.
Sinn Féin has two women TDs – McDonald and Sandra McLellan – and one female senator.
Smaller parties
Three in ten Green Party councillors are women – 47 of the overall 159 local representatives.
Three of the party’s 12 confirmed general election candidates to date are female: Councillor Catherine Martin, Lorna Bogue and Roisin Garvey. In the 2014 local elections, the Greens ran 15 female candidates – accounting for 32% of the party’s overall total.
A spokesperson said the party is “extremely confident” they will achieve the 30% requirement for the general election, having launched a ‘Women in Politics’ manifesto last year.
The People Before Profit Alliance told us the party is “very proud of our record in fielding women candidates in elections”.
“40% of our candidates in the local elections were women (the highest proportion of any political party), and our candidate in the European elections was also a woman, councillor Bríd Smith.
“We’re in the process of building our candidate list for the general election and we’re certainly aiming to ensure that we reach the 30% target for women candidates – and hoping indeed it will be higher.”
The Anti-Austerity Alliance/Socialist Party and Renua Ireland did not respond to requests for comment.
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At least now,Averil Power can fully concentrate on her role as Shirley from Eastenders
Who Claire Underwood?
or Voldemort?
And you Mr Bean Fran ;)
No offence Mike but you look a bit like an egg
Thanks for the compliment Mr Bean!!
One of those women is a Myra hindley lookalike
Yes, she is so like Shirley Carter!
I wonder in what other areas the government could end equality under the law?
If we are to have selection Quotas based on what sex chromosomes you were born with, why not have others based on religion, ethnicity, socio economic status or disability status?
I mean if we are going to have a gerrymandered “republic”so the likes of Ivana Bacik can get a seat, why not go the whole hog?
I was talking to a guy the other day who had gone to a mixed National School, secondary school, college, and had until recently worked all his life in mixed workplaces.
But recently he got a job in an all male environment and he noticed that it an absolutely different world to one where men and women work together…
Hermes, is their a point to your story ?
There never is brian
The point is this – the overall attitude to work is not exactly as diligent to the actual rules and perameters most closely associated with what most other people might see a healthier mixed society .
see as a ….
Gender balance in politics — Important
Gender balance in parenting — Irrelevant
Liberal Logic.
There is no “statutory obligation” to have 30% females as candidates. A Party will not qualify for State financial support if it doesn’t have 30%. Female candidates. It all about money.
If women don’t vote for women then it’s hardly the men’s fault now is it ?
They wish to avoid confrontation so it seems some men run amok !
#CatherineMurphyforTaoiseach
The whole quota idea is bassed in the idea that parties are too sexist to nominate a woman, which ignores the higher running rate of women in parties than as independents. If this isn’t the only reason for women’s lower participation then all this bill will do is give a boost to current well placed tds, and enshrine tokenism in the law.
In what way Hermes?
Interesting that no one has tried to argue that one with you Joe but then again liberals don’t tend to like complexity in arguments.
Run amok?…Siteserv for example and Chinese walls and investigating in mirrors …..that kind of running amok …
It’s beginning to look like the fall of a great dynasty and two more houses , three even , are going to fall like in Game of Thrones..
Enda is no Tyrion ..
Reading this article I am left with one conclusion.
We have a huge amount of unnecessary TDs and senators whose only goal is self promotion.
We have a population the size of greater Manchester, our systems are already run by civil servants and require no intervention by an elected official.
We should run this country with a board of directors of between 12 and 20 people of different expertise who really care deeply about this country and its people.
David McShite
That would be in the best interests of the Irish people, something which is not on any politician’s agenda.
Numbered Swiss bank accounts for Denis’s minions will ensure that we never have an honest government for the people.
You’re on to something there David..it’s an original thought which might be the new way forward.
In the next election I am refusing to vote for any new female candidate on the basis that they did not earn their nomination but got it purely on their gender
If women ignore that principle then it shouldn’t matter – but if women decide to vote for the best candidate to sort the National problem rather than a nodding donkey that maintains a system that seems to be cleaning the country out of its youth every 20 or so years then it will matter !
Meanwhile in Mayo the Land League who are trying to prevent Evictions are arrested and the “Republican ” Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein keep their traps shut !
There is opposition and there is pretend opposition !
#Pretendtobehumanbecomeapolitician
I would like to see more women entering mainstream politics to get rid of the dead wood which exists in the Dail, definitely both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael should look to redressing the gender balance.
There should be a maximum quota of around ten years where a TD is allowed to remain in office. It should not be a job for life or something which is passed from father to son.
Bang on Chris – and one term as Taoiseach – Look what happened under 15 years of Bertie’s rule – how is his lecture tours going – we haven’t heard of them for a while ..
amazing what they would prefer you forget …
in a weeks time no one will know who she is. she better milk it as much as she can cause she won’t get a mention in next sundays papers
Why not. Will a billionaire gag the media?
:D
O
Could we have an article on Catherine murphy? An actual elected representative?
Quite noticeably Orla Ryan , in her article has completely ignored the number of Women MEP’s – Why ?
They too are very important Elected Representatives , as far as Ireland is concerned !
Do ye think that Averil might have heard that Brian Cowen’s friend might be going to court and realised that this move might mean a Tsunami of scandal held back by the Press would be triggered by the insult ?
When Dennisio Brienusconi rose to power in the Middle Ages in an Italian Province on the edge of the Holy Roman Empire – as opposed to the Roman Empire, his downfall came not from within but rather from without when the King of the International Fourth Estate took an ninterest in his reputation , after it was found that he tried to build a new fancy Palace by selling the corn that was given for the people who so that the poor and sick would be somewhat sheltered from the cruelties of life .
I think that was his name anyway …I could be wrong – it might have been a woman – so many stories from the past – it’s like they are all merged in the old noggin.
She was a woman- a woman in love.
Catherine Murphy has done much more for the standing of women in politics than any committee leader or Women’s Council of Ireland spokesperson, and the journal are ignoring her.
Does Francis “Mrs Doubt Fire” Fitzgerald count? Most of the female Oireachtas members are so busy aping the behaviour of the male majority that its hard to see the point of discussing gender quotas etc. Joan Burton during Leaders always appears a hairs breadth away from throwing the head at Mary Lou in a vainglorious attempt at displaying Dàil machismo. Anyway, I thought we lived in a world now where ‘sameness’ is the new orthodoxy.
http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/the-trouble-with-gay-marriage/17016#.VWqq_yNwbqB
If Joan Burton threw a head in Mary Lou the comedic value alone means that regardless of law I’d go up to Dublin and vote for the two of them !
Who invented Austerity ?
The Earl of Redaction ???- is that it ?
Mary White should leave the party next. To be followed by all male members.
She’s starting to look more and more like phil’s bird from eastenders lol
She of the quivering lip?
It’s not a matter of male or female, it’s a matter of ability, integrity and the motivation in why someone gets into politics. Woman have been proven to be just as good or bad as their male counterparts in our politics. It’s the wrong issue to be focused on.
I would!!
You should !
have your say