Madam, - As a candidate in the present NUI Seanad elections where all the outgoing senators are men, and as an independent county councillor at a time when there were only between two and four women out of the total of 24, I consider myself in a good position to respond to Noel Whelan's column of July 21st and to totally disagree with his sentiments.
To many woman in politics, the suggestion of a quota system is highly patronising. It is one you seldom hear on the lips of serious female representatives - and the reason for that is simple. A good woman is just as good as a good man, and they need no leg-up whatsoever, and no pats on the head to say "Aren't you great?"
Quota addicts should remember that Ireland is on its second lady President and has some excellent women Ministers. Furthermore, they should be aware that the main reasons why there are fewer female elected representatives than men is not because they don't do well in elections, but because they don't care to stand in the first place. Many women actually aren't that pushed about entering the political arena, and even if they were, they are not too enamoured of the funny hours and unsociable intrusion into family life.
That is their choice, but it is not forced on them. But if they do decide to run, let no one doubt that they represent a serious challenge to male contestants. To be chosen as a candidate simply because you are a woman, or not of the male gender, is a thoroughly insulting reason and turns democracy upside down. - Yours, etc,
SUSAN PHILIPS,
Ballinacoola,
Co Wicklow.