The government is failing to promote enough female politicians, a Sinn Féin TD has claimed.
Speaking on ‘The Week In Politics’ programme on Sunday, Dublin-Fingal TD Louise O’Reilly said that she was “disappointed” and “sad” to see Social Democrats TDs and co-founders Catherine Murphy and Roisín Shorthall announcing their resignation from politics.
However, while on the topic of “girl power” and “women in politics”, O’Reilly took the opportunity to highlight the number of promotions the government had given to male politicians compared to women.
“You know, if we’re discussing women in politics…in the last month or two, since Simon Harris became the leader of Fine Gael, there have been 11 promotions, including two for one man, and only one woman,” she said.
“So that’s 10 men got promoted within government, and only one woman. So I think what we need to see in the next Dáil are more parties with a profile like my own party.”
O’Reilly boasted that 30% of Sinn Féin’s Dáil team are women, adding: “We need to see that replicated by other parties.”
“Not just putting women’s names on the ballot paper, but credible women in winnable seats,” she said.
These remarks echoed comments by Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald earlier in the week, who paid tribute to Shorthall and Murphy and said they showed “girl power”.
“I heard the news that our colleagues Deputies Róisín Shortall and Catherine Murphy have announced they are not going forward for re-election,” said McDonald.
“I acknowledge them as two mighty and formidable women in leadership. I wish them both the very best in the future. A moment of girl power, I feel, which is rare enough in these Chambers.”
Controversially, in 2020, then-Sinn Féin Senator Lynn Boylan came under fire for criticising a fellow Senator’s ability to understand the way the law operates, branding him a “middle-class white man”. This led then-Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar to slam Boylan and her party, saying: “If you are white, male or even worse middle-class, Sinn Féin doesn’t want you. So much for an ‘Ireland of equals’.”
If you are white, male or even worse middle-class, Sinn Féin doesn’t want you. So much for an ‘Ireland of equals’ https://t.co/y4FBVsqppq
— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) August 12, 2020
However, under Varadkar’s government, at the last local election, over €230,000 in taxpayer money was given to nine Irish political parties by the Department of Housing to encourage them to run more “women candidates” and “people of diversity”, under a scheme which has been running since 2019.
Moreover, Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh bemoaned the “male, pale and stale” European election ticket of Fianna Fáil.
'Male, pale, and stale' is political blueprint in Europe, says Fine Gael MEP https://t.co/jxmpob5dmg
— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) February 12, 2024
Currently, 23% of TDs in the Dáil are female. Moreover, in 2012, a law was introduced imposing a gender quota for general elections. As of 2023, a party has to ensure that 40% of its candidates are women, and if that quota is not met, then the party loses 50% of the State funding they receive on an annual basis to run their operations.
Currently, of Ireland’s 15 senior Ministers, four are women: Norma Foley, Heather Humphreys, Helen McEntee, and Catherine Martin.