How can we get more women on boards in Ireland? NWCI Members and Friends Meeting

Published: Monday, April 29, 2013

The NWCI, in conjunction with the European Women's Lobby, recently held a seminar entitled 'Women on Boards: The Next Steps'.

Speakers at the National Women's Council of Ireland's seminar on getting women into boardrooms included RTE Board Member Orlaith Carmody, Sinead Donovan from Grant Thornton, CEO's chairperson Vivienne Jupp, Fiona O'Connor who is the Senior recruiter, Deloitte and Noirin Clancy, Women in to Public Life and 50/50 North-West and European Women's Lobby representative Serap Altinisik.

The NWCI director, Orla O'Connor said that the low number of women on boards is a wider representation of the inequality within the workplace. The majority of speakers on the panel agreed with the assertion that quotas were needed to address the gender balance.  

Only 9pc of Ireland's publicly traded companies have a woman on their board, while the EU average is 15.8pc. Ireland, along with Bulgaria and Poland, was only one of three EU countries which recorded a fall in the number this year. The EU target is 40pc by 2020.

Ireland is also behind the curve when it comes to the number of women in senior positions, according to research from Grant Thornton's International Business Report.

Globally 24 per cent of management positions are held by women, however in Ireland that number falls to 21 per cent, Ireland leaving the country in the bottom quartile.

To view the presentations or to learn more about the speakers, please follow this link.

Presentations and biographies of the speakers are available on our website.