Cork City Council launch new Women's Caucus to help increase women's engagement and representation in local politics 

The Lord Mayor of Cork will launch Cork City Council’s new Women’s Caucus in a social media video campaign which will run throughout International Women’s Day, today.

The Cork City Council’s Women’s Caucus has been set up to increase women’s engagement and representation in local politics.

Cork City Council’s Women’s Caucus Chair, Cllr Mary Rose Desmond said the formation of the caucus is a “positive development which will see us, as a group across the political divide, working together to encourage women to get involved in local politics.” 

She added:“We look forward to the opportunity to engage with you in highlighting the need for more female representation and indeed working with you to remove the barriers holding women back from achieving their full potential."

Outlining details of the social media campaign, the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Joe Kavanagh said the suite of photomontage-style videos, created by videographer and photographer, Clare Keogh, “will explore what inspired our female city councillors to enter politics, the challenges they face as female representatives and what changes they believe must be taken to ensure local democracy is more representative, inclusive and diverse”.

He added: “The videos really highlight the motivations and challenges facing women politicians so please watch and share so that awareness around these issues and our new Women’s Caucus is amplified at a local, national and international level,” he said.