No place for sexism in the next General Election

Published: Sunday, March 08, 2015

NWCI expresses serious concern at the comments by Cllr. Tony Brabazon on female candidates in the next General Election in his article in the Northside People and reported on in today's Sunday Independent.

Orla O'Connor, Director of the National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) said,

"It is ironic that today on International Women's Day we see such a clear example in Cllr. Brabazon comments of the barriers and sexism that women face on entering politics. Ireland, with only 16% of our TDs being women, ranks at the lowest level internationally for women's political representation. The 30% quota for candidates is a critical step forward to ensure that Irish people have a real choice in the next General Election and an opportunity to address this democratic deficit. It has not been 'slavishly grabbed from overseas' as Cllr. Brabazon suggests but has been introduced on the basis of international evidence and all political party support."

She continued,

"The comments made by Cllr. Brabazon regarding 'real women' and wether women have or have not children and families are particularly sexist, utterly irrelevant to candidate selection and would never be raised regarding male candidates. NWCI believes it is critical that all political parties, in this case Fianna Fáil, take a strong stance against discriminatory comments on women candidates in the run up to the General Election and promote a culture that supports women's equality in politics."

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For more information, please contact Silke Paasche, NWCI, Tel. 085 858 9104.