Men significantly out number women in Local Government: we need legislation for gender quotas for local elections - National Women's Council Ireland
While the local elections 2024 seems a long way off, now is the time for urgent action to increase the number of women in politics at local level. The National Womens Council has convened an Alliance for quotas at local level, a collective of civil society organisations, local and national and academics working in political representation, to advocate for a candidate selection gender quota of 40% for Local Elections 2024 to increase women’s representation in Local Government.
Local government provides essential services such as housing, roads, libraries, planning, environment and economic development as well as being a key part of the functioning of our democratic system. With its proximity to women’s lives, local government is uniquely positioned to strengthen women’s participation in decision making and improve the representation of their interests.
Gender quota legislation targeting the proportion of women candidates has been in place for Dáil elections since 2012, but government has yet to implement similar quota measures for local elections. In the 2019 local elections, women accounted for only 29% of all local candidates and 23.9% of those subsequently elected, a figure which is far below the EU average of 32% for women’s representation in local politics. Behind the blunt percentages, the numbers speak for themselves. Only 241 out of 949 are councillors are currently women. Currently 23 of the 137 local electoral areas are represented by all-male slates of councillors. Nearly four out of ten (38.8%) seats were held by women in Dublin in 2019. Three local authorities have less than 10% of its seats held by women, in Waterford it is 6%.
As it stands, it would take another decade to break the critical mark of 30%. And the people of Longford, Monaghan, Carlow, Clare, Galway, Kerry, Kilkenny, Laois, Mayo, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Westmeath, Wexford, Limerick, Waterford… cannot afford to wait.
Whilst voluntary mechanisms such as incentives, networks and mentoring have made some progress, the pace of change is too slow. 25% is the highest proportion of women in council in Ireland’s history. The Irish public are well ahead of our politicians, and they want to see change. 87% of the citizens in the citizens assembly on gender equality voted to introduce gender quotas for local elections by the end of 2022 and for penalties.
The alliance is considering the most appropriate legal mechanism that can enable quotas to be extended to local elections. We require expertise and assistance to support our campaign on potential legal mechanisms and their practical implementation. With this campaign we can ensure that no women is left behind from holding elected office in local government, and that this change can impact and benefit all women.
To find out more and to support the campaign please contact Emma De Souza on emmad@nwci.ie