Dual mandate end an ‘opportunity’ for women

THE ending of the dual mandate will give women an unprecedented opportunity to become more involved in politics, one of only three female members of the Cabinet said yesterday.

Government chief whip Mary Hanafin described the 2004 local elections as a potential watershed for female political participation, with more than 120 deputies stepping down from their local authority seats in the wake of the dual mandate being abolished.

“More female legislators would mean more crèches, more playgrounds and less lap-dancing clubs, which exploit vulnerable, young immigrant women,” said Ms Hanafin.

The scrapping of the dual mandate is an opportunity for women of all political ideologies to put themselves forward, she said.

“This is an opportunity which must not be missed,” she told a conference on female political representation in Kilkenny.

“As one of only three women who sit at the Cabinet table, I am acutely aware of the lack of female representation in the corridors of power.

"I see great potential for the 2004 local elections to be a watershed for female political participation in this country,” the chief whip said.

“Politics needs more women, not because we are better, but because we are different. Women’s social, economic and political experiences need to be articulated coherently, appropriately and in greater numbers.”

The conference heard that female membership of the Irish legislature, at 13%, compares unfavourably with other northern European countries. In Sweden it is 43%, in Denmark it is 38% and in Finland it is 37%.

Ireland ranks 59th out of 120 countries in the league table of female participation in parliament.

“A record on par with some of the poorest countries in Africa is obviously an unacceptable place for Irish democracy to find itself,” Ms Hanafin said.