Running start: the women hoping to make a change

Progress in increasing female participation in Irish politics is slow. Eight years after gender quotas were introduced, less than a quarter of the last Dáil was made up of women, despite at least one female candidate running in each of the 39 constituencies.

Next week’s election will see 248 women out of a total 685 candidates listed on ballot papers across the country, yet Ireland continues to lag behind most EU countries when it comes to female representation in national politics.

The Electoral Commission report published last year increased both the number of constituencies (from 39 to 43) and seats (from 162 to 174) to reflect the growth in population. Over a decade after they were introduced in 2012, legislative gender quotas have also been increased from 30% to 40% following a recommendation by a Citizen’s Assembly.

Political parties that fail to meet this minimum requirement are penalised with cuts of up to 50% in their State funding.

Of the main political parties, the Greens have the highest female participation in the forthcoming general election – over half of its candidates (53%) are women, followed closely by Aontú (52%). The newly formed Independent Ireland has the lowest (31%). The party has committed to reaching the 40% mark before election day. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour, Social Democrats and Sinn Fein will all field over 40% women candidates.

However, with a marked increase in personal attacks on politicians in recent years, ranging from social media threats and trolling to physical harassment and intimidation, politics is becoming a less attractive career prospect for people regardless of gender.

Irish Country Living spoke to three women candidates in different parts of the country to discuss their reasons for seeking election.

Councillor Caroline O’Reilly: Fianna Fáil

Councillor Caroline O’Reilly is on the Fianna Fáil ticket for Meath East, having retained her council seat in the June elections. She was co-opted to Meath County Council following the death of her cousin, Cllr Damien O’Reilly in September 2023.

She will be up against outgoing Fine Gael Justice Minister Helen McEntee and party colleague Thomas Byrne, but is hoping the increase in seats from three to four in the constituency will help her cause.

“I was asked to go forward after we lost Damien and while I never ever saw myself in this job, I wanted to do him justice and protect his legacy. I am very happy I’ve done it and the work is very satisfying,” she says.

“Advocacy is a big part of my job as an addiction and mental health counsellor for the voluntary sector for the past 20 years. I work with marginalised groups and I’m aware of the suffering out there.

“I had never been to a count centre before the local elections in June so I was quite naïve about it but I definitely put the work in to be re-elected in my own right. I was selected for the general election at our convention in August so I’ve been out meeting as many people as possible since then.”

Caroline says there is a need for more women politicians who she believes bring a different perspective to the role. She considers herself lucky that she has not received any abuse so far, but says that could be because she doesn’t court too much attention online.

“I haven’t really experienced any hassle or harassment but I consider myself quite a resilient person. I’m far from a shrinking violet and having grown up in a house with brothers and male cousins next door, I’ve always been able to stand up for myself,” she says.

“The toxicity online needs to change. I don’t go near X (formerly Twitter) as the comments make my eyes hurt when you see what’s written about women. It’s always about their appearance over the work they are trying to do and while I know men get abuse too, the women are targeted more aggressively.

“I’m doing a bit of canvassing online but I’m not really a social media person so that part has been a bit of a baptism of fire for me.

“We need more women in politics because we have a different understanding of the issues and especially those of us who are mothers; we understand the responsibilities involved in carrying the burden and we have more empathy. But it does come down to the person running, how effective they can be.

“Sometimes it can be a bit tokenistic to field women candidates, where it feels they’re just making up the numbers and that can be offensive rather than helpful to women.”

Cleo Murphy: Green Party

In Kerry, Green Party candidate Cleo Murphy is in the midst of her fourth election campaign in recent years, having previously contested the 2020 general election and the last two local election campaigns.

She is running against outgoing Fianna Fáil Education Minister Norma Foley in the five-seat constituency with all four remaining seats being vacated by men, none of whom represent the Greens.

“We took a hit in the local elections alright but I’m confident that won’t happen in the general election,” she says.

“I have had backlash online and some negativity on the doorsteps, which can be quite brutal at times where I’ve had appalling accusations made against me with some choice language.

“But you have to put your armour on. There is no point engaging when things get particularly nasty so the priority is to get myself and my canvassers to safety as quick as possible. I can’t say I have felt unsafe, it’s more likely to have been an issue with my Green credentials than my gender.”

Cleo believes there aren’t enough supports to attract women into political life.

“I see women who won’t go into politics due to family commitments but they are very active in the community through PPN, or Tidy Towns groups and I have several on my campaign team. The problem is women don’t imagine they could be politicians,” she says.

“The bigger parties have this bank of experience because they’ve been doing this for years whereas I’m only doing it the past five years, so I’ve become a lot more strategic. There is a Green vote out there in my constituency – whether it’s enough to get me over the line, we’ll have to wait and see.”

Hilary Tonge: Social Democrats

First time candidate Hilary Tonge is running for the Social Democrats in Clare, which also marks the first run out for the party in the constituency.

With four seats to be filled, Hilary is one of eight female candidates, on a 16-person ballot paper, making Clare one of the most gender-balanced constituencies in the country. Clare elected a female TD last time around with Violet Anne Wynne winning a seat for Sinn Féin before leaving the party. She will seek to retain her seat this time around as an independent candidate.

“I’ve been an active health campaigner for many years and I’m running for the Dáil because I want to inform people as to what is going on,” says Hilary.

“As women candidates, we need to let people know we are every bit as competent as men and I would hope to encourage women to look at women candidates on the ballot paper and see is there something there that resonates with them.

“I am up against it as I am the first Soc Dem candidate to run in Clare, but I am covering as much of the constituency as I can in order to get my profile out there beyond Ennis, where I’ve been campaigning for many years for better health services for the county.

“I am hoping younger women will come out and vote because they are the ones most affected by the main changes in this country over the past 10 years or so. It only takes one person to break the mould, so I’m hoping it will be me. But the old boys club is still prevalent unfortunately.”