A chara, – In response to Donal MacErlaine's letter (March 7th), in which he stated that "there is nothing stopping a woman from entering politics in Ireland today", I would like to draw his attention to Senator Ivana Bacik's 2009 report for the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, which named the main stoppers as "the five Cs" – cash, childcare, confidence, culture and candidate selection procedures. – Is mise,
MAEBH NÍ CHATHALÁIN,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – Further to Donal Mac Erlaine’s letter, there is nothing stopping a woman from entering politics in Ireland today – but that does not mean that there are not extra obstacles in her way. Our culture has a deep problem with the idea of women in leadership, and politics is not immune.
Research has shown that, due to societal pressures, women and girls feel less capable of holding pubic office than their equally qualified male counterparts. Voters are being denied capable candidates, while parties all select from a common pool.
A quota will force the political elite to seek out women, rather than see them ignored due to perceived gender roles, while providing role models for the next generation. In this context it is myopic to suggest that all quotas will achieve is to put “a woman in the Oireachtas simply because she is a woman”, as it ignores the primary goals of the quota.
Our unthinkingly sexist culture needs to change, and encouraging parties to put forward one woman for every two men is not an unreasonable demand. If it is, then that just show how deep our misogyny runs. – Yours, etc,
DAVID BEATTY,
Knocklyon,
Dublin 16.