Women will make politics better – and quotas are the only way

Published: Thursday, November 17, 2011

Last Wednesday, the first ever women-only meeting of TDs and Senators was the subject of controversy when Labour's Joanna Tuffy said she would not be attending.

Tuffy suggested that a female-only meeting was "stereotyping" and would lead to women in politics being pigeonholed. Here, Eoin Murray of the National Women's Council responds.

JOANNA TUFFY'S BOYCOTT of Oireachtas women provoked a flurry of media controversy. Although Tuffy generated ample news coverage for herself she did little to make progress on the substantial issue - how to get more women involved in Irish politics. Tuffy's decision was a distraction at a time when equality for women in politics should be a burning component of our political reform agenda.

Click here to read the article by NWCI's Eoin Murray published in the journal.ie