Councils need more women, body told

THE nature of county councils is stopping women from entering local politics, a major conference was told over the weekend.

Leading academic Ann Wallace told delegates attending the General Council of County Councils (GCCC) conference that only 16% of the country’s 883 local politicians were women.

Ms Wallace, from the Department of Government at UCC, said starting times for council meetings and a lack of child care allowances were preventing women entering local politics.