Our system fails to represent women in Dáil, says Kenny

GENDER QUOTAS are essential to bring more women into politics but “there will be blood on the floor” at selection conventions as a consequence, a senior Fine Gael figure told a conference yesterday.

Fine Gael general secretary Tom Curran welcomed proposed legislation under which political parties would have to implement a 30 per cent gender quota for general election candidates, or else face severe financial penalties.

However, he said implementing the quotas would present a “huge challenge” for all parties when he addressed the How to Elect More Women conference.

The event at Dublin Castle was the brainchild of Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State for Equality at the Department of Justice.

“I think quotas are the only show in town for political parties,” Mr Curran said. “The reality is there’s going to be blood on the floor.”

The chairwoman of the conference, broadcaster Olivia O’Leary, said male candidates would probably have to be “displaced” to bring about greater representation of women. She asked Mr Curran what Fine Gael would do if local organisations ignored instructions from headquarters and “the boys sewed it up” at selection conventions.

Mr Curran said the party was prepared to restrict the number of candidates local organisations could choose at selection conventions. “We have an ace up our sleeve: we can add candidates.”

Earlier Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he knew “energetic debate” would arise whenever quotas were mentioned. “To those who challenge the concept, I’d just point out that women have been voting in Ireland now for over 90 years, but our system has failed to provide the people with a higher and more appropriate representation by women in the Dáil and in the Oireachtas in general.”

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore described Leinster House, where just 15 per cent of seats are held by women, as “one of the most unnatural places in the world” and said it reminded him of a boarding school.

Asked if he would be prepared to stand aside for a woman candidate at the next election, he said no one had a right to retain candidacy: “To be honest, personally, I’d be very happy to pass it on to someone who’s willing to take it on.”

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said his party would attempt to amend the legislation on gender quotas to make it applicable to the 2014 local elections.

“The dramatic under-representation of half of the population in our Government, in our national parliament and in our councils distorts our political culture and it can only be tackled by being willing to overturn long-established practices,” Mr Martin said.

Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said the political culture had to be convinced change was possible. “We have a problem with our political culture and it’s very deep-seated, because the assumption is that men ‘do’ power.” She said the notion that “power is a masculine thing” had to be challenged, and women had to insist on “proper representation in our democratic structures”.

Senior French politician Dr Nicole Ameline said one of the most important obstacles to achieving equality was the endurance of stereotypes and cultural patterns. She praised the legislation to introduce gender quotas, although she predicted a “difficult” debate around the issue.

“This sort of law is the best booster of change,” she said.

How to elect more women ‘one baby step . . .’

"Before I die I want to be able to vote for a mediocre woman." Kathleen Lynch, Labour Party Minister of State with responsibility for equality, who organised the conference.

"This is one baby step, just the one dipping of our toe into what needs to happen." Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin vice-president

"If women are not involved in politics we need to ask them what's wrong with politics, not what's wrong with women." Averil Power, Fianna Fáil Senator

"I must acknowledge that sometimes political parties prefer to pay penalties and they prefer to keep their [male] candidates." Senior French politician Dr Nicole Ameline

"We love kids, but we don't have to kiss them to get elected." Mary White, former Green Party minister of state

"Good candidates are not born, they're made," Ita McAuliffe, Labour Party general secretary

"There are things that you don't measure that maybe women have in abundance . . . There are things that we can bring to politics that can add very substantially." Catherine Murphy, Ind TD