A woman’s place - A lot done, a lot more to do

WE HAVE just passed the 90th anniversary of the enactment of the Representation of People Act, the law that finally gave Irish women the right to vote.

Despite this we have the eighth lowest proportion of women in parliament of EU member states.

Ireland, with women making up a mere 13% of parliamentarians, compares very poorly with a European average of 22%. In Sweden — 47% — the 50/50 threshold is on the horizon, as it is in Finland at 45%.

Of the 470 candidates who stood in last May’s election, only 82 were women, less than one in five.

These figures to not put flesh on the dreams of so many who fought for equality and equal opportunity.

Competition at the grassroots level of political organisations has been cited as one of the main reasons women fare so poorly in our national political process. A fair enough point really when you consider what most women are doing at the age they might wish to begin building a career in politics — they are trying to hold down a job and possibly looking after young children.

The only fiscal policy most busy mothers have time to consider is the cost of child minding or maybe the credit card bill. Climate change means turning on the central heating. This is not to disparage but to acknowledge the situation so many overly hard-pressed women and families find themselves in and until that changes it is hard to see how there will be any dramatic change.

At the weekend British tycoon Sir Alan Sugar suggested that many of the laws surrounding employment are counterproductive.

Pointing out that he cannot even ask a prospective employee about her — always her — plans for parenthood, more often than not he finds it tempting to bin the CV. Rationally enough, he points out, if he was allowed to establish that an individual’s plans would not reduce their effectiveness, they might suddenly become more employable.

In any event all of these concerns would be rendered academic if the Archbishop of Canterbury’s bizarre proposals regarding the incorporation of aspects of Islamic law into British law come to pass.

In that unlikely event women might be stoned to death for being raped, divorced by declaration — possibly without support — and challenged by religious police if they offend the sharia dress code.

We may not have come a long way in 90 years but we can take a smidgen of comfort from the fact that others have not come very far in 900.