Voters should support female candidates

MARKING International Women’s Day, the National Women’s Council of Ireland highlighted the lack of women in politics (The Irish Examiner, March 8).

The organisation pointed out that only 13% of TDs are women. The problem, the NWCI said, needs to be addressed directly by political parties, which continue to field significantly more male candidates than female.

While I acknowledge that there are many difficulties for women who wish to participate full-time in political life, I think the problem is not just the fault of political parties. When the average woman candidate in Ireland gets more votes than the average male candidate it will be in the interest of the political parties to sit up, take notice and select more women candidates. In addition, the proportion of women representatives in the Dáil will increase from its present level of 13%.

The experts tell us that, in the 2002 election, the average woman candidate received approximately 600 fewer votes than the average male candidate. Consequently, there is a bit to go to achieve the NWCI aspirations for women’s political representation.

However it can be done, as is shown by the Nordic countries where women comprise in the region of 40% of parliamentarians.

The prize is that the more women there are in the Dáil, the more influence they will have on how the country’s resources are spent.

Anthony Leavy

1 Shielmartin Drive

Sutton

Dublin 13.