Regional Seminar: Women Beyond the Dáil/ NWC and Monaghan County Council

Women represent more than half of the Irish population, yet they face significant barriers to entering and remaining in politics compared to their male counterparts.

The National Women’s Council (NWC) recently commissioned the report “” to highlight the experiences of women in politics in Ireland. The report, researched and produced by Pauline Cullen and Claire McGing (Maynooth University) reveals systematic obstacles that hinder women from running for office and provides recommendations to ensure the entrance and retention of women in politics.

Joining Rachel Coyle, NWC Head of Campaigns and Mobilisation, we will share the findings and recommendations of this report, and that of the NWC Survey of Irish Women Councillors. This is a unique perspective that allows us to reflect on the challenges and opportunities for women's local representation, examining how these have evolved over the past five years in response to changes in the political landscape.

Monaghan County Council is currently one of the Local Authorities with the lowest female representatives. With only 17% of elected female councillors, we will hear from their experiences deciding to run for office, the challenges they encountered, and recommendations to support greater female representation in the local Council and Irish politics at large.

We will also discuss our most recent Alliance campaign to introduce Legislative Gender Quotas for Local elections, a commitment to introduce Gender Quotas in the next Programme for Government.

This is an in-person event at Monaghan County Council

If you require ISL interpretation, please confirm attendance with Susan McCormack, [email protected] by the 15th November

Date and time: Tues 3rd December from 09:45-11:00 – Monaghan County Council (Council Chamber in MTEK 1).

Host or Publisher National Women's Council