Gender politics: why women fare badly

THE lack of debate on the fact that women who, despite being the majority of the electorate, occupy only 13% of Dáil seats is remarkable. Cllr Deirdre Clune (Irish Examiner, January 23) argues that women’s under-representation is not due to their reluctance to vote for women candidates.

Gallagher and Marsh reported in ‘How Ireland Voted 2002’ that male candidates got about 600 votes more than females. The positive aspect is that 10 years earlier, Yvonne Galligan reported that “male candidates on average got 1,200 more votes than female candidates”.

While things are improving, it is hard not to conclude that the failure of women to vote in greater numbers for women candidates contributes to the small number who are selected and the lack of attention given to women’s issues in election manifestos.