Ireland ‘bad boys of Europe’ for having no women

IRELAND is one of the bad boys of Europe. Again.

This time it’s not our environmental record that’s leaving us red-faced. Nor is it our record on alcohol abuse and street violence.

This time it’s because we have no women.

Yes, we have no women.

Out of eight Irish representatives and substitute representatives assigned to the Council of Europe there isn’t a single female.

This week the Parliamentary Assembly of the COE suspended the voting rights of the Irish delegation.

The action was taken after we were found to be in breach of a stipulation that each national delegation must contain at least one representative of either sex.

A spokesperson for the COE described it as an “unprecedented decision”.

At least we were not alone in our humiliation. We were joined by Malta as one of only two of 45 member states not to have a female representative.

The COE concerns itself with human rights, parliamentary democracy and social and legal matters.

The Irish delegation could have faced further embarrassment if their credentials were not ratified. Their credentials were accepted, but their voting rights were suspended.

Our representatives include Fianna Fáil’s Noel Davern and GV Wright, Jim O’Keeffe of Fine Gael and Labour’s Brendan Howlin. Substitute representatives include Fianna Fail’s Brendan Daly and Paschal Mooney, Jim Higgins of Fine Gael and Tony Gregory, Independent.

Delegates of each country were informed last November reminding them of the requirement to have a least one female delegate.

The COE’s Committee on Rules of Procedure said both Ireland and Malta had “sufficient time” to appoint women to their delegation.

A COE spokesman said: “It is to be noted that smaller parliaments with fewer women parliamentarians, like San Marino, managed to include at least one woman in their delegation.”

A spokesman for the Irish delegation said they would be raising the matter with the relevant authorities in the Oireachtas in order to resolve the gender balance issue as soon as possible.