Sir, – I was more than surprised, based on your article, to calculate that a woman was more than twice as likely to be successful in an application for a “top post” in the Civil Service than a man – 4.1 per cent of men were successful (13 of 311) versus 8.5 per cent of women (15 of 175) (“Women outperform men in getting senior jobs in Civil Service, report finds”, News, April March 30th). This seems a staggering difference to me. Are we to believe that the male candidates are on the average so inferior? If so, the Civil Service must explain how so many mediocre men made it to the level just below top posts. I hope that the modern notion of equity (as opposed to old-style equality) has not been used to turn the vice of sexism into a virtue in order to balance the ratio of the sexes at this level in the Civil Service. I’m sure the leadership of the Civil Service believes firmly in the importance of their roles to the day to day lives of Irish citizens. In that case any deviation from the best person for the job is to the detriment not only of the individuals passed over and the Civil Service itself but to the country as a whole. Positive discrimination is discrimination and all our institutions ought to avoid it and any appearance of it. – Yours, etc,
BILLY O’MAHONY,
Tulla,
Co Clare.