As the pieces of the coalition jigsaw are placed this way and that, we could still be a long way off forming a government.

One of the big players in these talks is the leader of Sinn Féin, Mary Lou McDonald, a woman who, no matter what way you look it, had an outstanding general election a few weeks ago.

But for female politicians as a whole, the recent election was more underwhelming than outstanding.

There’s no denying that general election 2020 saw a seismic shift in Ireland’s political landscape, but not from the point of view of women’s representation in the Dáil.

The percentage of female TDs elected has virtually stayed the same. In the 2016 general election 22% of TDs elected were women – 35 out of 158.

As of the recent general election, the number women in the Dáil increased by one, to 36.

And, as the total number of seats increased to 160, 22.5% of TDs are now women, a slight increase. It is important to note also, that the outgoing Dáil had 31 female deputies, as the four by-elections after the European elections were won by men.

This stagnation is in contrast to the last general election in 2016, when, after the introduction of gender quotas, the percentage of women TDs increased significantly.

The 2011 general election saw 15% female TDs elected to the Dáil, compared to 22% in 2016.

However, while the increase in seats held by women was minimal this time out, the number of first-preference votes for female candidates was the highest ever in a general election, exceeding the previous record in 2016.

This is according to figures compiled by Adrian Kavanagh of Maynooth University Department of Geography. Although, this did not translate into many more seats.

High-profile losses

Claire McGing is a political researcher at NUIM with a particular interest in women in politics. She says, taking into account the three largest parties post-general election 2020, although Sinn Féin increased both its percentage and actual number of female TDs, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael saw a decrease, which to put simply, offset each other.

Women, she explains, are more exposed to a drop in a party’s popularity.

This was seen in the recent general election with the loss of high-profile female TDs including; Labour’s Jan O’Sullivan and Joan Burton, former Fine Gael minister Regina Doherty and Fianna Fáil’s Brexit spokesperson Lisa Chambers.

In 1997, we saw the same with Labour Party women, they were disproportionately hit

“Women incumbents were really disproportionately hit by the swing towards Sinn Féin. It is interesting to note as well that this is not the first time we’ve seen that,” explains Claire.

“In 1997, we saw the same with Labour Party women, they were disproportionately hit. The same with Fine Gael women in 2002, the party suffered a meltdown then. In 2011, Fianna Fáil elected no women TDs at all. It seems that when there is a swing against the party, women are more vulnerable to that swing.”

Also, Claire explains that women running for election, broadly speaking, often tend to be a running mate or in contention for a third or fourth seat, therefore they are in a more precarious position.

Regina Doherty would have a much higher profile than even some of the male cabinet ministers, I would argue

As well as that, the low number of female TDs can mean they are more visible, and again are more exposed to a swing against parties. “Regina Doherty would have a much higher profile than even some of the male cabinet ministers, I would argue. There are so few female TDs, they tend to be put out in the media disproportionately, relative to their seat numbers in the Dáil.”

Gender quotas

Gender quotas in politics are often a divisive topic. However, as noted previously, when they were first introduced in 2016 – when 30% of parties’ candidates had to be female – women’s representation in the Dáil rose from 15% to 22%.

Parties need a lot of long-term planning, and succession planning

Claire points out that gender quotas will rise in 2023, when parties will have to run 40% female candidates. For this not to become an issue, parties who are now only just reaching the quota (see table 1) need to start strategising with regards to women’s representation.

“What parties need to do firstly is, they need to start selecting women and give them time to build a base; that women are not being selected at the last minute or being added on to tickets. Parties need a lot of long-term planning, and succession planning in constituencies where there are male incumbents who won’t run again the next time. And again, just to try and move from selectability of women to electability of women, in putting them in constituencies and giving them support to maximise that.”

Ciairín de Buis is CEO of Women for Election, an organisation set up to provide training for and practical support to women who are thinking of running for politics. She agrees that political parties having medium- to long-term strategies for women’s representation is important; one that includes local, European and general elections.

Locals are crucial, because they are the pipeline to the Dáil

As gender quotas don’t apply at local level, Ciairín says parties aren’t focusing enough on female representation on councils. In the local elections last year, neither Fianna Fáil nor Fine Gael ran 30% or above female candidates. Figures collated by Adrian Kavanagh show that Fine Gael ran 29.1% female candidates and Fianna Fáil ran 21.2%. Other parties were all above 30%.

“Locals are crucial, because they are the pipeline to the Dáil,” says Ciairín.

The key to increasing the number of women in the Dáil, Ciairín adds, is for parties to ask women to run. From her experience working with female politicians, women are far less likely to put themselves forward for election than men. They need to be asked would they consider running.

The slight increase seen in female TDs in this year’s general election, Ciairín says, is all the more reason for women to run in the future. “We need more diverse women as well, like working class women, rural women and farming women.”

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Women in Irish politics