Athlone-area councillors share mixed views on gender quotas in politics

Members of Athlone Moate Municipal District gave a mixed reaction to a recent presentation on gender quotas by the government-funded 'See Her Elected' project.

The programme manager for 'See Her Elected' (SHE), Dr Michelle Maher, told councillors that, while she did not like gender quotas and wished that they were not needed, she pointed out that it had taken "over a quarter of a century" for Westmeath to increase its female politicians from one to four, and that only 14 women had ever served terms as councillors on the local authority.

The first woman elected to Westmeath County Council was Aeline Mallon, who was successful in winning a seat for Fianna Fail in Mullingar in 1967. In the 2019 local elections, only four women were elected to Westmeath County Council.

"I wish we didn't need gender quotas, but when we went from one to four women on the council in over a quarter of a century, we might need the odd blunt instrument," said Dr Maher, during her presentation to councillors at the November meeting of Athlone Moate Municipal District.

Dr Maher also made reference to the fact that there is only one female member on the Athlone Moate Municipal District, the Green Party's Cllr Louise Heavin, who was not present at the particular meeting.

"Quotas do not apply to local elections, and the aim of our organisation is to try to encourage more women to get involved in the political process at grassroots level and to help them make informed decisions about entering politics," she said.

Cllr Frankie Keena commended Dr Maher on her informative presentation and on the work that she is undertaking in SHE.

"My bottom line is that the more people who put their names on the ballot paper the better," he said. He also asked Dr Maher if she had ever considered running for local politics.

"I thought long and hard about it some years ago," she admitted, "and I thought about it again for 2024, but I feel I am better placed in SHE to work with other women in workshops and try to encourage more female representation in local politics across the board."

Cllr Aengus O'Rourke felt that "any form of positive discrimination discriminates against somebody" and he said he didn’t see any valid reason why there weren’t more members of the Travelling community, or from the disability sector, represented in local politics.

"I think we will see less and less people in general putting their hand up to get involved in politics as it's not for the faint-hearted," commented Cllr O’ Rourke.

He said he had been told by a number of women that the "social media side of things" was a big deterrent to getting involved in politics: "They told me that they wouldn't put their children and their families through it."

Referring to the election of his own mother, Mary O'Rourke, to Westmeath County Council in 1972, Cllr O’Rourke said nobody had given her "a leg up" and that she had been elected "without any gender quotas."

He added that "a lot more work needs to be done" to ensure that the political system was inclusive of all sectors of society, including those from the Travelling community and the disability sector.

Cllr John Dolan said he had "an issue with gender quotas" as women who are selected to run for election in his party did not have to put their names before delegates at a selection convention, whereas male candidates have to go through the selection process.

"I think gender quotas are a bit disingenuous to women," he said, adding that "as long as you can do the job it doesn’t matter who you are."

Cllr Dolan said he was "all for" more women getting involved in politics at both local and national level, but he added that we should be working towards "making it easier for everybody to get involved in politics if they wish to do so."

Gender quotas place "too much pressure" on political parties to get more women to stand for election, according to Cllr Tom Farrell, while Cllr Paul Hogan asked Dr Maher if it was still the case that the "four C's, convention, cash, childcare and confidence" were still seen as the main barriers to women putting their name forward for election.

Dr Maher agreed that this was "still the case" but said organisations like 'See Her Elected', which is based in Mullingar, were working hard to change that narrative.