Dundalk seminar highlights need to increase the diversity of women in Local Government

Twenty-two women have been elected to Louth County Council since the foundation of the State and the council is bucking the national trend with 12 female councillors out of 29 but unfortunately this is not replicated throughout rural Ireland.

A seminar aimed at increasing the diversity of women in Local Government was hosted by Louth County Council in association with See Her Elected (SHE) at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dundalk today. The seminar included panel discussions with local and national politicians as well as speakers from diverse groups.

Joan Martin, Chief Executive of Louth County Council, welcomed the convening of the seminar as an important step in increasing diversity in local government: “Louth has a great diversity in its population, and it is important that local government reflects that diversity throughout all its decision making to better serve our citizens”.  Ms Martin said that the seminar was not a once off event and she noted that the council would be taking actions locally through the PPN network to encourage more people from diverse backgrounds to get involved in politics and she noted that while Louth County Council had “plenty of women, there was not plenty of diversity”.

Fine Gael’s Mary Mitchell O’ Connor former Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Minister of State who served as TD in Dún Laoghaire constituency from 2011 to 2020 was one of the main guest speakers at the seminar. She noted that politics can be a cruel business, but it can also lead to great success and achievements, and she highlighted the fact that she introduced the Senior Academic Leadership Programme while Minister for State for Higher Education in a bid to see more women hold posts as Professors within the third level sector. Referring to her career in politics, Ms Mitchell O’ Connor said that she had been subjected to inappropriate commentary about her appearance rather than her ability to do the job and she noted there was a perception of what a Minister should look like. 

“My hair drove people mad. A Minister said to me at least five times that I should put up my hair or cut my hair, get rid of the blonde or wear glasses,” said Ms Mitchell O’ Connor. An advocate for gender quotas, Ms O’ Connor warned potential candidates not to “be used by a party” and she continued: “Don’t let a party run you as an outsider. Make sure you have a good chance of getting elected.”

Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council, Cllr Conor Keelan noted that with 12 female councillors out of 29, Co Louth had one of the higher female representations. Cllr Keelan said that it was a “serious error of national Government to abolish town councils” as he noted they had been a “stepping-stone for female and younger councillors”.

Dr Michelle Maher, Programme Manager with See Her Elected, the award-winning Government funded project which aims to encourage women from rural areas to engage in local politics, delivered the opening address. Dr Maher said: “Louth County Council is bucking the national trend as there are 12 female councillors out of 29 but unfortunately this is not replicated throughout rural Ireland. There are only three women out of 18 councillors on Monaghan County Council and only four women out of 18 in Cavan County Council for example.

“It is important to have a female perspective at decision making level as this will ensure more balanced decisions are made on a range of issues which matter to us as women whether that’s climate change, employment, parenting, care, or violence against women for example.

“In the last local elections, the people of Louth were presented with 60 candidates of which 14 were women (23%) and they elected nine of those women to the 29 council seats (31%). With subsequent changes following Cllr Colm Markey becoming an MEP, Cllr Erin McGreehan being appointed a senator, and the sad passing of Cllrs Hugh Conlon and Oliver Tully (RIP) there are now 12 women councillors in Louth – and at 41% that puts them almost at the top of the leader board when it comes to women in councils.

“Credit to Louth County Council for not just resting on their laurels. They want to see the election results return a 50/50 council, with a growing diversity in who the councillors are so, that they more closely resemble the population they represent.” 

The event featured a diverse panel of local and national politicians with the ‘Journey into Politics’ panel featuring Senator Erin McGreehan and Louth County Councillors, Edel Corrigan, Paula Butterly and Marianne Butler with apologies from Maeve Yore and Michelle Hall.

Cllr Edel Corrigan said she was motivated to become involved in politics as “older men were making the decisions which affected the whole community” and she urged women to “go for it” and challenge themselves and others. Senator Erin McGreehan urged women to be “unapologetically ambitious” saying: “If you think you can do it, go for it. Be that voice and position yourself to be heard.” Senator McGreehan noted that her first taste of politics was being the driver of change so that girls could be altar servers while she was in primary school- “I was never one to have someone speak for me. I always wanted to change things,” said Senator McGreehan.

Cllr Paula Butterly said that women “can very often make demands of themselves more than men” and she noted that women often underestimate their own abilities and that sometimes “they need to get out of their own way”. Cllr Marianne Butler spoke about running for election when her child was ten months old and she urged women to do their research. “Don’t wait for there to be a right time or a perfect time- there will never be a perfect time- you just have to go for it,” said Cllr Butler.

The second panel discussion entitled ‘Diverse Pathways into Politics’ included a range of speakers from diverse groups such as Ejiro Ohare Stratton from Hands 4 Unity an organisation to educate and empower women; Lorna Costello from Outcomers, a support group for LGBTQ+ people, Katie Reenan a representative of Comhairle na nOg from Dundalk Grammar School and Flora Okobi from Culture Connect.

Lorna Costello from Dundalk Outcomers noted that LGBTQ+ people faced barriers everyday: “If you are not in a good space in your own head then you are not going to run for politics. An LGBTQ+ person could also be a Traveller or a migrant person for example so the more intersectional your identity the more barriers there are,” said Ms Costello.

Ejiro Ohare Stratton from Hands 4 Unity said the fact that she was black meant that she was perceived as being different. “There are 12 women in Louth County Council but there is no migrant voice in the council- we also need to see more migrant voices at SPC level as we are just not part of the decision makers.”

Katie Reenan a representative of Comhairle na nOg from Dundalk Grammar School said she would like to see more young people being involved in the development of policy and decision making so that the voice of young people was included.

Flora Okobi from Culture Connect said: “Some of the beliefs or mindsets of people from my cultural background are that politics is seen as a space for men or that it’s a dirty game and that can discourage them from getting involved.”

Sinéad Doody of Doody Consulting Ltd acted as facilitator for the event. See Her Elected is a joint initiative between Longford Women’s Link and 50/50 North West. The project is funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.