Alliance For Gender Quotas - Statement

Published: Wednesday, April 22, 2026

The Alliance for Gender Quotas observes with deep concern the recent attacks on Senator Eileen Flynn on social media following her expression of concern about participating in civil protests where the Irish flag is used as a symbol of division.

The persistence of hate and discrimination directed at female politicians and those representing minority ethnic groups is unacceptable. Since becoming the first Irish Traveller appointed and elected to the Upper House of the Oireachtas, Senator Flynn has been the target of sustained online abuse, particularly on X. 

Much of what we are seeing online crosses into hate speech, yet it continues to circulate with limited challenge or consequence. This raises serious questions about moderation and accountability and reflects a deeper issue: the extent to which this kind of racism is still tolerated.

Ireland has not yet achieved parity in political representation between women and men. Women already face significant barriers to entering political life, including online abuse, gendered scrutiny, lack of support networks, and the personal cost of participation. For Traveller women, these barriers are compounded by anti-Traveller racism, exclusion from decision-making spaces, and long-standing inequality.

The attacks on Senator Flynn demonstrate that women and minority political figures continue to be targets of abuse, and that such discrimination discourages participation in our representative system. If Ireland is serious about equality in public life, then anti-Traveller racism and misogyny cannot continue to go unchallenged, whether online or offline.

The Alliance for Gender Quotas calls on the Irish Government to take this issue seriously and to regulate companies that facilitate the spread of hate. We also call on the Government to publicly recommit to and provide an update on the implementation of the recommendations of the Oireachtas Task Force on Safe Participation in Political Life, published in May 2024. In particular, we highlight the recommendations under “Measures to Safeguard and Support Those in Political Life,” including those concerning the responsibilities of An Garda Síochána and the wider criminal justice system.

Signatures of this statement include:
Professor Pauline Cullen, Shane Gough (NUI Maynooth), Dr Fiona Buckley (UCC), Dr Colette Finn (formerly of the 5050 group), Brian Sheehan (Women for Election), Maria Joyce and Emma Hendrick (National Traveller Women’s Forum), Corrine Hasson and Liliana Fernandez (NWC), Dr. Michelle Maher (See Her Elected), Yvie Murphy (Women’s Collective Ireland – Limerick).