Women in Irish Politics
Women in Irish Politics
This essay will examine why there are so few women in politics and if gender quotas could be the solution. Women make up over half of the Irish electorate but yet remain markedly underrepresented in the Dáil and in wider political debate. Political debate in Ireland has been dominated by male voices over the years and because of this over half of our entire population’s opinions have been drowned out to some degree. The Dáil has always been at the very least 84% male. This is one of the highest percentages of male politicians that make up a parliament in the world. Ireland currently lies in 89th position in a world classification table of women’s representation in parliament compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 2013. Ireland is also lowly ranked in terms of EU member states, ranking 20th out of 27 states (Cahill, 2013). Clearly Ireland has a major issue with the underrepresentation of women in politics and I hope to uncover why in this essay.
In 1918 women achieved the right to vote in Ireland. This was due to certain restrictions but nonetheless Constance Markievicz was elected to the Dáil in December of that year. Years before she was elected she claimed the times were changing and with it came the washing away of the old “outposts that hold women enslaved and bearing them triumphantly into the life of the nation to which they belong” (Markievicz, 1909). Since 1918 women have claimed a meagre 219 out of 4,452 available seats in the Dáil, a tiny 4.9%. In the Seanad, they have filled 151 of the 1,620 available accumulating at 9.3%. Today Ireland has one of the lowest numbers of women in parliament in Europe and ranks in the lower half of the table in terms of the world. Following the 2011 general election women took 18 of 60 seats in the Seanad. They also took 25 seats out of a possible 166 in the Dáil. This is a tiny percentage at 15.1%. These are the highest figures ever in Ireland and yet still they are very low and in fact
This essay will examine why there are so few women in politics and if gender quotas could be the solution. Women make up over half of the Irish electorate but yet remain markedly underrepresented in the Dáil and in wider political debate. Political debate in Ireland has been dominated by male voices over the years and because of this over half of our entire population’s opinions have been drowned out to some degree. The Dáil has always been at the very least 84% male. This is one of the highest percentages of male politicians that make up a parliament in the world. Ireland currently lies in 89th position in a world classification table of women’s representation in parliament compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 2013. Ireland is also lowly ranked in terms of EU member states, ranking 20th out of 27 states (Cahill, 2013). Clearly Ireland has a major issue with the underrepresentation of women in politics and I hope to uncover why in this essay.
In 1918 women achieved the right to vote in Ireland. This was due to certain restrictions but nonetheless Constance Markievicz was elected to the Dáil in December of that year. Years before she was elected she claimed the times were changing and with it came the washing away of the old “outposts that hold women enslaved and bearing them triumphantly into the life of the nation to which they belong” (Markievicz, 1909). Since 1918 women have claimed a meagre 219 out of 4,452 available seats in the Dáil, a tiny 4.9%. In the Seanad, they have filled 151 of the 1,620 available accumulating at 9.3%. Today Ireland has one of the lowest numbers of women in parliament in Europe and ranks in the lower half of the table in terms of the world. Following the 2011 general election women took 18 of 60 seats in the Seanad. They also took 25 seats out of a possible 166 in the Dáil. This is a tiny percentage at 15.1%. These are the highest figures ever in Ireland and yet still they are very low and in fact
Bibliography: * Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2013. Women in national parliaments. Available at: http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm [Accessed on: 10 March 2013] * Irish Times, 2013 * Buckley, F., 2011. Women in Politics. Available at: http://www.nwci.ie/blog/2011/05/05/women-in-politics-fiona-buckley/ [Accessed on: 11 March 2013] * Bacik, I., 2013 * National Women’s Council of Ireland, 2009. Who cares?. Available at: http://www.nwci.ie/download/pdf/who_cares_october_2009.pdf [Accessed on: 10 March 2013] * Central Statistics Office, 2011.Women and men in Ireland * Niżyńska, A., Druciarek, M. 2012. Do gender quotas in politics work?. Available at: http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/do-gender-quotas-politics-work . [Accessed on: 11 March 2013] * Friedman, A