BY DECLAN VARLEY
Galway Labour candidate Helen Ogbu has warmly welcomed the Government’s decision to provide funding to encourage increased participation of women and diversity in the 2024 Local Elections.
A portion of this funding has been made available to Galway City Council on foot of a proposal submitted to the Council by Ms Ogbu, of ‘SAOL Connect’ which was specifically aimed at encouraging migrant women’s civic engagement.
The Programme for Government – Our Shared Future highlights the need for greater diversity and gender equality in local government, especially in areas where there are very low numbers of women involved in elected politics.
The funding will be used to organise a conference for women of migrant descent in Galway City on their rights and roles in civic engagement, participation, and representation.
“Promoting migrant and gender balanced political participation in local politics is very important,” said Ms Ogbu.
“It is crucial for our elected representatives to reflect the community it serves, which means ensuring those from a migrant background and females are supported to register, vote and run.”
She believes that many members of the migrant community are unfamiliar with the Irish electoral system, especially the Irish PR system, and are not always aware of their full voting and participation rights in local elections.
“Galway is now a very diverse population, but this diversity is not reflected in the makeup of either the city or county council elected membership, so despite being active in their local communities, the migrant population may feel somewhat distanced from the city and council chambers. “
“This situation is not unique to Galway either; while over 10% of the Irish population are from immigrant backgrounds, only 9 of 949 elected local councillors are of migrant background.
Ms Ogbu believes it is crucial that elected representatives reflect the communities they serve, and that migrants should be supported in registering to vote, using their vote, and putting themselves forward as candidates in Local Elections.
She is a highly experienced activist across many community organisations and has already been selected as the Labour Party candidate in the City East area for the 2024 Local Elections. This has been a long journey for her, and she is keen to share her knowledge and experience with others who want to play a full and active role in their local communities.
She wants to offer help and guidance to people on getting their names on the electoral register and using their vote, to offer workshops on how local government works, and very particularly to empower more women to run in the Local Elections.
