Kilkenny County Council seminar celebrates women in politics and promotes diversity

 A seminar aimed at highlighting the work of county councillors and a pathway for women into local government will be hosted by Kilkenny County Council in association with See Her Elected at the Council Chamber, County Hall Kilkenny on Thursday, March 7 to mark International Women’s Day.

‘Kilkenny Women in Politics’ will run from 9:45am to 1pm and will include panel discussions with local politicians as well as an in-depth conversation with Cllr Mary Hilda Cavanagh, the country’s longest serving continuously elected female County Councillor.

The event will include informal panel discussions with female politicians from Kilkenny on their journey into politics and the day-to-day reality of being public representatives. Refreshments and a light lunch are included.

This event brings the voices of Kilkenny women in politics and the community together to understand what the role of a councillor entails and about pathways into Kilkenny County Council. There will be a conversational-style panel with councillors Deirdre Cullen, Fidelis Doherty, Maria Dollard and Kathleen Funchion TD and an in-depth interview with Cllr Mary Hilda Kavanagh on 50 years of continuous public representation. A second panel discussion will also take place on diverse pathways into politics with a panel of women from a range of communities in County Kilkenny.

This event brings the voices of Kilkenny women in politics and the community together to understand what the role of a councillor entails and about pathways into Kilkenny County Council.

A feature of the day will be extended questions and answer sessions to make the event as interactive and inclusive as possible. Sinead Doody of Doody Facilitating and Consulting will act as MC for the event.

The CEO of Kilkenny County Council,  Lar Power will deliver the opening address and Director of Service, Mary Mulholland of Kilkenny County Council will close proceedings on the day.

In welcoming the event to Kilkenny, the CEO of Kilkenny County Council, Lar Power stated that “the challenge of increasing the number of women in local politics continues and the aim of the event is to encourage more women and people from diverse backgrounds to participate in Local Government, to the greatest extent possible and to realise the Council’s ambition of a more diverse representation of candidates in the 2024 local elections in Kilkenny.”  Cllr Michael Doyle, Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council, in highlighting the importance of the event said that “the wider benefits of equality and diversity in local Government cannot be underestimated”.

Dr Michelle Maher, Programme Manager with See Her Elected, the award-winning Government funded project which supports women in rural constituencies to become County councillors will also speak about the work of the organisation in providing a pathway for women into local government.

“See Her Elected is delighted to collaborate with Kilkenny County Council for this seminar to promote and support greater involvement by women in Local Government”.

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“We want to see more women being elected to County Councils. Only 26% of county councillors throughout Ireland are female and we have a much lower percentage of female councillors in rural counties compared to more urban centres around Dublin. There are only four female councillors out of 24 (which is just 17%)  in County Kilkenny. Compare that to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council where half of the 40 county councillors are female. Neighbouring counties such as Tipperary have nine out of 40 which is 23% female, Waterford only has six female councillors out of 32 (19%) and Offaly County Council only has two females out of 19 Councillors (11%).

“The first female elected to Kilkenny County Council was Sheila McCarthy from Ballyragget in 1967. Since then, only another 18 women have managed the same feat,” said Dr Maher.

“We would love to see as many women as possible attending the in-person event in Kilkenny on Thursday, March 7 to mark International Women’s Day when they will have the opportunity to hear directly from female councillors about their journey into politics and what the councillor role is like. They will also hear more about the work of See Her Elected and our range of resources to provide women with knowledge and information on how local government works through to every practicality of running in the local elections” continued Dr Maher.

Entry to the seminar is free of charge but you must register in advance on Eventbrite with the link or www.seeherelected.ie or email info@seeherelected.ie