Election Results

The Women's Council aren't happy.

29% of the roughly 2,000 candidates in the local elections were women. Of those 2,000, over 500 were independents and women only made up 18% of that group.
So minds must now focus on how to stop so many men running as independents apparently!

The final results show that 22% of newly elected councillors are women
 
Delboy said:
The Women's Council aren't happy.

29% of the roughly 2,000 candidates in the local elections were women. Of those 2,000, over 500 were independents and women only made up 18% of that group.
minds must now focus on how to stop men
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Fixed your post.
They'll never be happy unless they are stopping something.
 
Lack of female representation on elected office is a real issue but it isn't all down to the "Patriarchy". In my experience women are just less interested in politics. I find it very frustrating that my despite my best efforts my older daughter is still almost completely ignorant of anything political.
I've said before that if you want to know why there are so few women in politics go into a Newsagent and look at the the magazines they buy. Then look at the TV they watch (or at least is targeted at them).
That said some of the finest politicians we have had in my lifetime have been women, probably because they have had to be better and smarter than their male counterparts to make it in what was, and possibly still is, a very male dominated environment.
 

The vast majority of men have no interest either, some would even dread the thought of knocking on doors to have to get elected.
But the traits that our current political system seem to require seem to be found more in men than women.
It could be that it is found in 10% of men and 5% of women.
I think we'll go down a rabbit hole if we make this a men v women thing, we should ask what are the barrier to people going into politics.
 
I agree.
The barriers are job insecurity, no free time, little privacy, very long hours and low pay relative to the hours worked. Then there's the abuse from the public, the assumption that you'll be at every funeral and GAA match and an electorate who want their politician to operate at the national level except when it comes to the local issues which that individual voter cares about.
You'd have to be out of your mind to want to be a TD unless you were a cap wearing type TD who was a gombeen parish pump politician working every angle for personal gain or a tax cheating fraudster who is a socialist when it suits him.
 

Exactly. Never mind men v women, we need to get to a position where sane people want to be TDs. The gender aspect is secondary to the sanity aspect.
 
I know a number of women who have been elected time after. time and I know some who have never been elected despite going forward. The former got down and did the groundwork and continued to do it. The latter didnt
 
I can understand why individuals run in the national, local and european elections. I can even understand why they tread footpaths to knock on doors, turn up at GAA matches, attend funerals and are first or last to communion at Mass and hang around church doors after Mass on Sundays. I don't mind them kissing babies, shaking hands with anybody who'll extend a hand. I have no problems with them drinking alcohol on swings and taking the odd fall. I don't question their expenses and pay.

But, who are the guys (usually men) who lift successfully elected politicians around the count centre? They (the hacks) appear to have nothing to gain when their shoulder high burden waves dramatically at every camera in the hall.

Are they the types who are emotionally overcome like ten year old kids when Liverpool win the Champions League? Are they in line for some unentitled political favours? Or am I missing something?
 
There are plenty of people who are active in political parties because they support their policies and/or grew up in that environment. For most there's not much more to it. While I find the tribal element of political party members hard to take they, and the people who knock on doors during election campaigns, are a pillar of democracy. Without them what would we have?
 
Vanessa said:
I know a number of women who have been elected time after. time and I know some who have never been elected despite going forward. The former got down and did the groundwork and continued to do it. The latter didnt
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Given that a majority of the electorate are women I do wonder why so few women run and why even fewer are elected.
 
Purple said:
Given that a majority of the electorate are women I do wonder why so few women run and why even fewer are elected.
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While certainly there are fewer women candidates, I dont think it is true that where women do run the are less likely to get elected.
 

We need a return to monarchy then, they have loads of interest in that , prince harry and megan markle , there is plenty of that in OK magazine
 
cremeegg said:
While certainly there are fewer women candidates, I dont think it is true that where women do run the are less likely to get elected.
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See Delboy's post, 29% of candidates were women but only 22% of councillors.
 
Purple said:
See Delboy's post, 29% of candidates were women but only 22% of councillors.
Click to expand...

You'd really need to break down those figures by other factors, how many were first time candidates.
There's a clear pattern of councillors getting re-elected, an 'incumbency bias', so it would be interesting to see if first time candidates \ non sitting candidates had same success rate regardless of gender.
 
Seagull said:
You also need to consider what party they were standing for.
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True. Sinn Fein were never shy boasting about how many women they were fielding. When the floating vote swung away from SF, a number of women lost their seats. In my ward, there were 9 candidates for 7 seats and the SF candidate finished 8th. She was a sitting councillor. I've lived there for 20 years and had no recollection of not voting for her previously
 
I think it is worth remembering that the whole political system, just like most of the infrastructure around politics, business, money and power generally was historically developed by men so without consciously excluding anyone women are at a disadvantage in politics (and the other areas mentioned).
As a man if you don't see that then try being a stay at home father of young children or just an engaged father. The whole infrastructure is set up for women. You just don't fit in as a man. There are mother and baby groups, mothers at the school gate, mothers going for coffee afterwards. As a man you are not consciously excluded but in reality you'll always be on the outside and if you do engage it will be uncomfortable. That's just in one small area.
Now, imagine being a woman in so many areas which are male dominated. Due to conscious efforts by women for decades, and by men more recently, women aren't as structurally excluded as the stay at home dad above, but they are operating in structures which were created by men so it is harder for them to work within those structures. Sometimes it's only minor stuff, sometimes it's bigger than that. We've come a long way towards real equality but there's still work to be done.
 

This is as much your reaction as the set up of the infrastructure.

Being a new Dad at the school gate gets you included as a novelty in a way that wouldn't happen if you were just another new mother.
 
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