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30% Rule in Ireland: From Theory to Practice

It seems that Ireland’s major political parties are facing some difficulty adhering to the gender quota legislation imposed by the Irish government.

30% Rule in Ireland: From Theory to Practice

It seems that Ireland’s major political parties are facing some difficulty adhering to the gender quota legislation imposed by the Irish government. As Ireland’s next general election is set to take place in 2016, it is around this time of year that parties create candidate lists and begin to garner support for election season. According to leader Micheál Martin of major party Fianna Fáil, “hard, tough and difficult decisions” are going to have to be made. This statement refers to the law passed in 2012 that requires all political parties to have at least 1/3 female candidates put forward, or face a 50% cut in State funding.

Image removed.

 

Current composition of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament). This is not an official seating diagram. Parties are identified by colours as follows:
Blue = Fine Gael 
Red = Labour Party 
Light green = Fianna Fáil 
Dark green = Sinn Féin 
Orange = Socialist Party 
Purple = People Before Profit Alliance 
Salmon = Workers and Unemployed Action Group 
Grey = Independent 
Black = Ceann Comhairle

 

Even with Ireland’s good intentions of passing that key piece of legislation three years ago, it is not surprising that the parties are having issues complying with the quota. As University College Cork’s Professor Fiona Buckley points out, Ireland will be the first country in the world introducing gender quotas in a PR-Single Transferable Vote electoral system. Paired together with decreased number of parliamentarians, there is tension as a result of the increased competition.

In addition, controversy often comes with the discussion of quotas, such as concerns of discrimination and unqualified candidates taking over. These concerns are rooted in the misinterpretation of affirmative action policies as well as society’s abysmal record in putting faith in women’s leadership. In reference to gender quotas in parliament, Donald Steinberg, president and CEO of World Learning stated at the January 28th “Global Security and Gender Forum” with Sweden’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallström, “It is not reverse discrimination…more countries in the world have those quotas than don’t. 106 countries have them and 86 don’t.”

Internationally there are many examples of legislated gender quotas that create fundamental changes needed in politics, supporting parity as a feasible goal. Lakshmi Puri, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women states, “Reserved seats and legislated candidate quotas have accelerated the strides made in women’s political representation in the Americas, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Arab states. In these regions, the magnitude of change is around 10 percentage points over the past 20 years.” (Beijing+20 Looking Back and the Road Ahead). Still, in Ireland, the constant media coverage and statements made by politicians frame the 30% rule as burdensome and a source of discontent.

Liz O’ Donnell of the Irish Independent perfectly describes the “tokenism” debate in Ireland, revealing that “Everyone supports equality, but the uncomfortable truth is that more women means fewer men”. Despite controversy over the quota requirement, the major parties that still need to acknowledge issues of gender equality (and who also do not want to lose 50% of party funding), have made some moves to discuss the issue.

Fianna Fáil’s strategy group dedicated to the topic, the Markievicz Committee, released a 25 page report in January suggesting that 27 female candidates are needed to contest the coming general election. If FF fails to nominate that amount of female candidates, the party will lose €1.4 million in State funding.

For the 5050 Group, gender equality is not an issue that needs to be solved just in order to keep funding. The national advocacy group aims to achieve the equal representation in Irish politics and is rooted in the beliefs of democratic justice and equality.There have been many workshops and events organized by the group. One recent workshop “Democracy and Gender; Reinventing the Dáil” discussed topics such as challenges and opportunities when moving from community activism to electoral politics. These community-active forums create the necessary dialogue to address barriers faced by Irish women interested in becoming involved in politics.

Like many political systems in the world, Irish politics can illicit an “old boys club” aura. The latest scandal to hit the Dáil Éireann, the Irish House of Representatives, proves just that. A note that TD Michael Lowry sent to Taoiseach Enda Kenny in reference to the re-appointment of his former PR adviser Valerie O’Reilly to the National Transport Authority was leaked describing Ms. O’Reilly as “a woman, bright, intelligent and not bad looking either!” Situations like this mirror the existing flippant attitudes that can pervade political environments and women’s involvement.

Today, 27 out of 166 representatives of the Dáil are women. With one more year to go until general elections, hopefully the pressure on political parties to make room for gender parity will be reflected in Irish society as well.

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The Global Women’s Leadership Initiative has hosted the Women in Public Service Project at the Wilson Center since June, 2012. The Women in Public Service Project will accelerate global progress towards women’s equal participation in policy and political leadership to create more dynamic and inclusive institutions that leverage the full potential of the world’s population to change the way global solutions are forged.  Read more