Irish Politics: Jobs for the Boys

Published: Thursday, October 31, 2002

Recommendations on increasing the number of women in decision-making

Whether elected or appointed, the overwhelming number of those in positions of decision-making in Ireland are male. With women making up 50 per cent of the Irish population, the figures in this research show an evident deep and systematic inequality. They are proof of a failure by successive Governments to end discrimination against women in political and decision-making positions. It is little wonder that for many girls and women a career in politics or public life is still seen as 'not for us', rather as 'jobs for the boys'.

This research is significant because it clearly demonstrates that systematically in elected and selected posts, at all levels from local to European, Irish women are deeply disadvantaged politically. Awareness of this reality is what encouraged NWCI to carry out this research and to commission a photographic display that shows the absence of women in decision-making in Ireland.

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