Sinn Féin Councillor Thérèse Ruane is calling for greater participation of women in decision making in society today. In particular, she is calling on women to use their talent, skill and energy to contribute to public life.
“International Women’s Day, which takes place on March 8 every year, is a day to celebrate women’s lives today,” Cllr Ruane said. “It has been rooted in years of struggle for women’s rights and women’s suffrage. Here in Ireland, something we can be proud of is that in the first Dáil on January 21 1919, Constance Markievicz was appointed to the cabinet as Minister for Labour. This was truly historic when you consider that Constance Markievicz was the first female cabinet minister in western Europe and that Irish women didn’t gain the right to vote until 1928. It’s a pity we didn’t continue that trend. There is gross under representation of women in all areas of political life, the economy and senior civil service positions. For example, a mere six per cent of civil servants at secretary general level are women while clerical staff make up 81 per cent; 22 of our 166 TDs are women, only 13 per cent. Here in Mayo, four out of 31 of our county councillors are women. This isn’t good enough.
“Women have a huge wealth of talent, skill and energy to contribute to public life. In the current political climate of corruption and bank scandals, cronyism and jobs for the boys, women’s participation is needed more than ever to ensure that issues such as childcare, public transport, healthcare and equality are adequately addressed. In general, women are more practical and focused on solutions and issues rather than financial gain, getting one over on opponents, cronyism, and the game playing all too evident in our councils today.”
