National Women’s Council of Ireland calls for urgent action to get more women into the Dail

Published: Thursday, September 02, 2010

Ireland's already abysmal level of women politicians has fallen still further this week, with announcements from Olwyn Enright and Liz McManus that they are to quit the Dail. Ireland has now plummetted from 84th in the world ranking to 88th, below Sierra Leone. In 1990, we were 37th.

"Even though half of our population is women, last Monday just 14.1% of sitting TDs were women. If the two women who are leaving are replaced by men, that will go down to 12.8%," said Susan McKay, chief executive of the National Women's Council of Ireland.

"Other countries are attending to their democratic deficit. In failing to do this, Ireland is looking more and more disreputable on the world stage. Last year a cross party committee endorsed a range of affirmative measures which have been shown to work in other EU countries. The sky will not fall if these measures are introduced in this country."

The NWCI urged the Minister of State for Equality, Mary White, TD, to call an urgent meeting of party leaders and general secretaries, at which they will have to put forward proposals which will deliver real change in the gender balance. "All parties have said they want more women in the Dail - it is now time for them to commit themselves to bringing that about," said McKay.

Contact; Susan McKay 087 7582222