Might gender quotas be part of the solution?

By Dr Aodh Quinlivan

‘There cannot be true democracy unless women’s voices are heard’ - Hillary Clinton

At last Monday week's regular meeting of Cork City Council, the elected members unanimously resolved (without the need for a vote) that the Chief Executive, Ann Doherty, should write to the Government requesting that a gender quota of 40% be introduced for the 2024 local elections.

The motion was tabled by Councillors Colette Finn, Deirdre Forde, Mary Rose Desmond, Mick Nugent and Fiona Kerins.

The discussion in the historic council chamber was mature, with many excellent contributions. Some councillors argued that they did not intuitively favour gender quotas but that, in the short term, they were needed. Others noted that gender quotas were only likely to be part of the solution and that other supports were required. During her eloquent contribution to the debate, Councillor Colette Finn asserted that the issue was not simply about making things better for women. She noted: “There are advantages for men in living in a gender equal society”.

So, how does Ireland fare in terms of gender equality in politics? Women are significantly outnumbered by men in Irish national politics. Following the general election of 2020, UCC’s Dr Fiona Buckley observed that since 1918, 130 women have been elected to Dáil Éireann, in comparison to 1,211 men. This breaks down as 90% men and 10% women in our national parliament in 102 years.

However, there may be cause for some cautious optimism. The 2020 election saw a record 160 women contest for seats across 39 constituencies. In total, there were 516 candidates running for 159 seats, so women constituted 30.5%.

History was made by virtue of the fact that – for the first time – every constituency fielded a woman candidate. The 2020 figures compare favourably with the previous general election in 2016, when women made up 163 of the 551 candidates, just under 30%.

The 30% threshold in terms of women candidates is significant. In 2012, legislation was passed which obliges political parties to select at least 30% women candidates and 30% men candidates to contest general elections. If the quota is not met, political parties will lose 50% of the State funding they receive on an annual basis to run their operations.

The gender quota threshold for candidates rises to 40% from 2023 onwards. While all of the main political parties met the 30% threshold in 2020, many did so in minimalist fashion. Professor Michael Gallagher of Trinity College Dublin, pointedly noted: “The main parties continue to comply with the letter of the legislation, but it is open to question whether they are complying with its spirit.”

With just 22.5% of the seats in Dáil Éireann occupied by women, the legislative gender quota should be regarded as the start, rather than the end point. The fact remains that Ireland currently ranks 101st in the world for female representation in national government, falling behind countries such as China, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

What of local government? It is puzzling that the aforementioned gender quota legislation of 2012 only applied to national level and was not rolled out at local level. Despite small progress being made over the years, it remains the case that only one out of four councillors in Ireland is a woman (24%).

Data from the last six cycles of local elections in Ireland suggests that there is no electoral bias against women – the problem is that not enough women are appearing on the election ballot papers, though it is worth noting that the main political parties put in place informal gender quotas for the last two local elections, in 2014 and 2019.

There is a logic to the political parties using local elections to recruit, train, promote and run women with a view to having them ‘election-ready’ for the next general election. Given the personalism and localism inherent in Irish politics, local government experience is particularly critical to one's chances of selection for general election.

There are other factors to consider as well. Future opportunities for women’s electoral success at the local level will be shaped – for better or worse – by local government reform plans.

For example, the Local Government Reform Act, 2014 reduced the number of local councils in Ireland by 73%, from 114 to 31, with the complete abolition of town councils. The corresponding reduction in council seats was dramatic, with a fall from 1,627 to 949.

A decrease in the number of council seats means, of course, fewer opportunities for men and women to gain local government experience. In terms of advancement to the national parliament, this may hurt women more than men because, as mentioned above, local government experience has been found to be a more critical factor for the election of women to parliament in comparison to men (see the work of Dr Fiona Buckley).

There were more women at town council level than at city or county council level so the abolition of this entire tier of government removed the most accessible entry point for women into the political sphere.

Women councillors have made a significant contribution to Cork City Council, despite being heavily under-represented. From 1900 to 2022, there have only been five female lord mayors in the city.

The first was Jane Dowdall in 1959 and she was followed 30 years later by Chrissie Aherne. In more recent times, Deirdre Clune (2005), Catherine Clancy (2013) and Mary Shields (2014) have served as Cork’s first citizen.

Currently, there are six women in the council, from a total of 31 elected members (19%). Cork city is below the national average of 24% for the representation of women in local government and ranks 17th out of the 31 local authorities. Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council is top of the class with equal gender representation – 20 of its 40 councillors are women. Dublin City Council has 26 women councillors out of 63 (41%), while Longford County Council is at the bottom with only one woman on the council from a total of 18 elected members (5.5%).

Taking the last five local electoral cycles (1999-2019), 340 candidates have stood for election to Cork City Council – 272 men (80%) and 68 women (20%). On average, over this time, while women have comprised 20% of the candidates, this has equated to 17% of the seats.

There is encouragement to be found in the record number of women who stood for election to Cork City Council in 2019, though this did not translate into seats. Had a 30% gender quota rule been in place for the political parties at the 2019 Cork City Council local elections, Fianna Fáil (8%), the Labour Party (20%) and Sinn Féin (20%) would have failed to reach the threshold.

Another aspect to consider is how the women councillors in Cork City Council fare when it comes to attaining the top political positions in City Hall. As highlighted earlier, only five women have served as lord mayor in over 100 years. Cork City Council has six strategic policy committees (SPCs) but, currently, the six chairs of the SPCs are men.

Gender quotas are not the entire solution in of themselves, but may prove an important catalyst. The renowned academic, Professor Shirley Graham points out: “You can't just pull one lever and make it all okay. It works across all the institutions, all the structures, all the systems and society – we need to be making sure that women have equal access, education, health, workforce, politics, law, etc.”

It is also worth stating that if we want to make our council chambers more representative of society, this implies diversity and inclusion which extends beyond women. We need more young people involved, people from different ethnic backgrounds, people with disabilities etc.

There is undoubtedly a lot of work to be done.