#FemGen: NWCI’s campaign for feminist TDs in the 33rd Dail

Published: Thursday, February 13, 2020

NWCI ran a highly successful #FemGen campaign, which saw our members contact their local general election candidates and ask them to commit to 10 key asks for women’s equality, if they were elected to the Dáil.

Overall, 128 candidates signed up and for the first time there were #FemGen candidates in every constituency.  NWCI highlighted key issues for women, including childcare, violence against women, housing, health and investment in public services and infrastructure throughout the campaign. 

NWCI also contacted the leaders of the main political parties and asked them to answer four key questions on their commitment to women's equality. The answers from Leo Varadkar, Fine Gael, Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Fein, Micheal Martin, Fianna Fail, Eamon Ryan, Green Party, Brenan Howlin, Laobour Party and Roisin Shortall and Catherine Murphy, Social Demcorats were published in the Sunday Independent, 26 February and on our website, which also included a short blog post from Bríd Smith,People Before Profit. 

We were disappointed to see only 36 (23 %) women elected, only one more than in 2016. This was a missed opportunity to break the critical barrier of 30% of women’s representation in Dáíl Éireann. It is crucial that political partie work harder to increase the number of women contesting elections.