#GE16 letter: Women candidates aren’t helped by media

If media reports from the US are to be believed it looks like Hillary Clinton is losing the support of younger women in her second attempt to become the first woman to be the most powerful politician in the world.

If media coverage of the general election campaign in this country continues as it is, it will be a surprise if the increased number of women on the ballot paper results in much of an increase in the number of women TDs.

The reason for the failure of women to make a breakthrough seems to be that the under-representation of women in what are supposed to be representative democracies is not seen as a problem in media coverage here or in the US.