"NATIONAL WOMEN’S COUNCIL SLAMS "I’M ALRIGHT JILL" ATTITUDES AMONG WOMEN POLITICIANS.

Published: Tuesday, August 03, 2010

The National Women's Council has criticised women TDs who oppose measures to correct the extreme under representation of women in Dail Eireann. "The reasons why so few women make it into political power in Ireland and elsewhere have been well identified. This 'I'm alright Jill' attitude shows a sad lack of solidarity with other women," said Susan McKay, chief executive of the National Women's Council, which represents 180 women's organisations.
The NWCI called on the Minister for Equality, Mary White, to propose alternatives to candidate quotas as a way of correcting the outrageous gender imbalance in Dail Eireann, where just 13% of TDs are women. "We are surprised and disappointed that Mary White should regard candidate quotas as diminishing for women," said NWCI chief executive, Susan McKay. "All over the world they have been used to correct the undemocratic exclusion of women. Is she seriously telling women who are politicians in Denmark, Rwanda and Spain, for example, that they are lesser political beings than she is?"
"All of the main Irish political parties have been ruthlessly discriminating against women since the foundation of the state. We do not have a full democracy while half the population is excluded. President McAleese put it well at a recent conference when she said that she could not understand why when the bird had 2 perfectly good wings, they insisted on trying to fly it on one. Candidate quotas give voters the choice to mend this, and they have done so successfully in many other countries. They are not discriminatory - they are about dealing with historic discrimination. We need more women in Irish politics, and no one has come up with any credible alternatives to quotas backed by other measures."
The National Women's Council considers it scandalous that the absence of women from decision making bodies is not even remarked upon within the Irish political system. "The absence of women has become invisible," said McKay. "The recent Joint Committee on the Constitution review of the electoral system was conducted by 15 politicians, just one of them a woman. Sadly, this is typical."
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Contact Susan McKay on 087 7582222