Gender quotas help to promote democracy

I write on behalf of the 5050 Group. The 5050 Group strongly supports the use of quotas as one means of promoting the equal political representation of women in Ireland.

Strategic partners attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos in January were informed that they had to bring one woman in every five senior executives. The forum was attended by more women in 2011 as a result. Ireland claims to be a representative democracy. The gross under representation of women and other political categories in Irish electoral life belies this claim. The Davos 2011 example is particularly timely in light of claims that gender quotas are “undemocratic”. Fundamentally, quotas serve to promote democracy.

Margaret O’Keeffe