Stepping up to address the gender imbalance

The issue of equality and representation was just one topic Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh touched on during a recent whistle stop tour to a number of locations in the county.

Ms Walsh had a busy day meeting constituents: “We started off in Streamstown, visiting the national school. I was kindly invited by a fantastic teacher called Michaela Barrington. I spoke to third to sixth class and it was probably one of my favourite school visits I’ve ever done.”

The Fine Gael MEP represents the Midlands North West constituency in the European Parliament as part of the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats). She serves on a number of committees, including the European Parliament’s Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee.

It may seem preposterous that in a modern society such a committee is necessary, but the figures show how desperately skewed we are towards the male perspective: “I sit on the Agriculture Committee, the Regional Development Committee, the Gender Equality Committee, and the Justice and Home Affairs Committee,” she told the Examiner.

The topic of female electoral representation remains a hot topic even after five years of trying to address the problem with gender quotas; however, the problem is more than just a political one.

“Gender inequality permeates every aspect of our society and is deeply embedded in our governance structures,” is the top line of an opinion piece from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

Though it feels like it should be from the 1980s it’s very much of our time. It points out that 87% of CEOs are men and 86% of board chairpersons are men. In our justice system, we have 167 judges, but only 63 are women. In the health sector two out of three senior consultants are men.

Ireland’s record on female political representation is nothing short of abysmal. That’s if you look at it simply in terms of numbers.

When examined through the lens of contribution, it’s a different story. Female names loom large in decisions that have influenced the way our country has grown. Names like O’Rourke, Owens, or Harney all left an indelible imprint on Irish political life.

Those contributions are made all the more significant when taken in the context of how poor we are at electing people with two x chromosomes.

The lack of faith in electing women to political posts in 2025 is somewhat jarring. The Dáil has the worst gender balance of any parliament in western Europe, women making up only 25% of TDs (44 Of the 174 seats).

Ireland is in 96th place in a global ranking of national parliaments. Last month Dáil Éireann formulated the committees that shape policy, and of the 19 chairs only four went to women. There are 12 men in the cabinet and three women.

That national picture is replicated at the local level. There’s only one female TD in the five-seat Longford Westmeath constituency, while of the 20 elected council representative there are only three females; Cllr Julie McCourt (SF), Cllr Emily Wallace (FG) and Cllr Aoife Davitt (FF).

Westmeath County Council was established under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. The first woman was elected to the local authority in 1967, and only 14 women were elected to Westmeath County Council throughout its history.

Since gender quotas were first introduced in the 2016 general election it marked the most significant increase in the number of women elected to Dáil Éireann since the foundation of the state. The quota system has seen a 90% increase in the number of female candidates, and almost one third of an increase in the number of female TDs. Yet still the level of representation is poor.

Strangely, we fare much better in Europe. Six out of the 14 Irish MEPs are women, representing 43% of the total.

During her visit Ms Walsh spoke about the relevance of Europe’s political structure to the lives of the people of Westmeath. It’s a regular question thrown at MEPs, and one they are well versed in answering.

On the day of her visit, the FG political representative had a good opening. Radio advertisements had just started advising business owners of the obligation to ensure gender pay parity.

“I was coming into Westmeath today and the government adverts about gender reporting for companies over a certain size were running. If you’re under 50 people, it’s voluntarily, if you’re above the 250 employees, you need to report annually.

“Why is gender reporting necessary? It’s because right now, in many sectors, women and men do the exact same job, but women don’t get paid the same.”

The gender pay gap hovers around 14% to 15%. Having a piece of legislation that highlights that is a step to addressing an otherwise invisible issue.

“I worked on that over the course of 13 months. I thought, oh my god, this is moving so slow. I spoke to colleagues about it. They’re like, “actually this is probably one of the fastest pieces of legislation we’ve had come through”. Now to see it come to fruition is great. And the data from it will be incredibly important,” Ms Walsh says.

In the course of a half hour conversation, the issue reappears in different clothes. It’s such an overlooked problem that it’s inevitable it can dominate a discussion.

The Fine Gael MEP says representation informs policy, and hearing the voice of women is essential: “I have a particular focus on equality for women. 229 million women live in the EU, and yet there is a shortfall in access to better healthcare; be it continence health, cardiovascular, mental health services, and domestic violence is at an all time high.”

Ensuring the female voice is heard is down to voters: “As voters, if we don’t vote for women, then they won’t be elected. We also have to take a punt. The first time I sought election, I was told “you don’t have enough experience”, “you should be tending to the home, if you have one”, and “you’re not thick skinned enough”. I found that frustrating.

“I now have five years of working really hard, but if people didn’t believe in me running, then I would never have got here.

“Asking women to run is one of the first steps. We also have a big issue of women not supporting women. I would say that across any political family, not just my own. It’s about getting women in politics and then we can fight about policy after that.”

Equality is not the only pressing issue on the MEP’s agenda: “I’m focused on the next Common Agricultural Policy,” she said, “Just this week, I did a piece on preserving and protecting micro enterprises, and there are many in Westmeath.

“You’re always trying to raise awareness, trying to get them funding and trying to get better policy. Over the course of the next four years, that’s the type of work I’ll be focusing on.”

Ms Walsh’s day with midlands constituents started with a display of set dancing from the Streamstown pupils, with more appointments during the day: “I met the group of girls running the Yoga Picnic, on July 5. It was great to be part of their launch,” Ms Walsh said, “I then met with the family that runs Kilbeggan Organic Foods.

“Such meetings help me in my work on the agriculture committee and preparing for the next Common Agriculture Policy. I am also meeting members of the Westmeath ICA,” she concluded.