Irish women face 400-year wait for equality

IT will take almost 400 years to have an equal ratio of men and women in the Dáil at the current rate of progress.

This is despite repeated commitments from political parties and the Government to increase the role of women in politics.

With just 22 female TDs out of a total of 166, Ireland languishes in 68th position in the world, with many sub-Saharan African nations reporting better rates of female participation in parliament.

Although the United Nations has set an international goal of 30% female representation, Ireland’s rate of 13.5% is expected to improve slightly, but not dramatically, after the next general election.

Aside from Dáil representation, women are also massively underrepresented at local authority and State agency level despite a Government obligation to ensure that 40% of the boards of all State agencies are female.

On city, borough, town and county councils, women make up between 14 and 16% of the elected members - a figure that improved by just under 3% after the 2004 local elections.

Labour Party deputy leader Liz McManus said she was frustrated that commitments are repeatedly pushed aside when it comes to increasing the participation of women in public life.

“What I find most disappointing about all this is that nothing has changed. Every time it gets knocked down. It’s going to require legislation. It’s going to require a lot of changes to ensure that women are in a position of authority,” she said.

Like most political parties, Labour has set targets on increasing women’s participation and hopes to achieve 50% by 2012.

Fine Gael appointed a national equality officer for the first time in 2003 and is currently in the process of recruiting equality officers for every branch in the country.

Fine Gael’s equality strategy manager Mary Cahill Kennedy said the party’s target at the next general election was to increase its female TDs from two to between eight and 10.

“The target of 10 is a starting point to be built upon in the future,” she said, adding that the party’s women’s group was striving to strengthen Fine Gael through the involvement of women.

Fianna Fáil last year appointed Belfast’s Centre for the Advancement of Women in Politics to produce a gender equality action plan committing the party to a series of goals.