The Women for Election group says the public money is needed just 24 hours after Dáil Ceann Comhairle Sean O’Fearghail publicly backed local election gender quotas as a “pragmatic” step that must be taken. Women for Election chief executive Ciairín de Buis says the recent local elections were “a missed opportunity” to improve gender balance in Irish politics. Ms de Buis separately called for the introduction of local election gender quotas in line with similar general election laws, saying “it’s time to extend that to local government”. The view was supported by Dáil Ceann Comhairle and Fianna Fáil TD Sean O’Fearghail, who said he supports local election quotas as part of “pragmatic” steps to encourage more women to enter politics. When asked if he agreed local election gender quotas should be introduced, he replied:

Source: Irish Examiner June 09, 2019 19:18 UTC