Sir, - I refer to Katie Donovan's informative tabulation of the years in which voting rights were granted to women in various states before and after the beginning of this century ("Women's long march", September 27th).
It is worth adding to the list, in the year that is in it, that it was in 1899 that the first opportunity came about for women to vote as of right in elections in this island. This was in the context of the elections for Ireland's first county councils when the franchise was extended to include women.
It was a far from perfect franchise: women voters had to be over 30 and to be heads of household (the latter restriction also applied to men). However the county council electoral contest of 100 years ago at least marked the opening of a door to democratic participation by women in Irish society.
If the historical record of women's attempts in the early 1900s to become involved in public life shows that progress was very slow, it is salutary to record that the pace has hardly quickened in the closing years of the 20th century.
Recent analysis of the outcome of the June 1999 elections shows that women were elected to just 16 per cent of the 1,627 local authority seats in the State. - Yours, etc.,
Liam Kenny, Director, General Council of County Councils, Harold's Cross Road, Dublin 6.