Cork councillors disappointed at lack of women in new Cabinet

A female politician in Cork has described the lack of female representation among the new Government ministers as “a missed opportunity”, while another has said it is disappointing but not surprising.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced his Cabinet in recent days. Only three of the 15 ministers are women, those being Education Minister Helen McEntee, Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, and Children and Disabilities Minister Norma Foley.

Speaking to The Echo, Labour Party councillor Laura Harmon said the lack of female ministers was a missed opportunity by Government to get more women into senior political positions.

Missed opportunity

“It wasn’t just a missed opportunity not to appoint more women to senior Cabinet positions,” she said.

“It was a deliberate overlooking of the importance of balance at the Cabinet table.

“In politics and in business, evidence shows that more diversity means better decision-making.

“We need more leadership from men when it comes to supporting and promoting women in politics. This Government is more regressive than the last one, in my view.

“All of the leaders of the biggest opposition parties are women. I think if they work closely together, there is a real chance of a truly transformative, progressive Government in a few years. And it’s only a matter of time before the biggest political glass ceiling gets broken in Ireland where we will see our first female taoiseach.”

Social Democrats councillor Niamh O’Connor told The Echo that the lack of female representation is also reflected at local council level.

She said: “I went to Cork City Council for the first time to see Pádraig [Rice] do his final speech. And when I went in there, I was really struck by how many women were on the council.

“My addition to the council makes it six women out of 31 members. So it’s not surprising to see that reflected in the Dáil.”

Proud 

Ms O’Connor said she is proud to be part of a party in the Social Democrats which strongly values women and it has a very capable politician as leader in Holly Cairns.

She added: “I’m happy to be part of a party that takes gender parity seriously. We do like to champion women, try to select women.

“I think some parties take that very seriously and that’s great. Other parties don’t take it as seriously, and I think Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are two of those parties who don’t seem to take it as seriously as the rest.”

Cork South Central Fine Gael TD Jerry Buttimer told The Echo that it is important for the Government to reflect society and how Ireland, as a country, is moving. He said: “Obviously we need to see a more diverse group in Cabinet. In time, I hope we have a Government that will better reflect that.

“At the moment, I think it’s a good Government from a Fine Gael perspective. For me, the key thing is delivery.

“I would hope that, in the fullness of time, people will look on it as being a Government that will deliver.

“I think Jennifer Carroll MacNeill in the Department of Health, she brings a wealth of experience, and I think she will be a good minister.

“Equally, I think Helen McEntee in education will bring a new perspective that we need to see in a variety of ways around the broadening of the education sphere.”