Despite repeated talk of a need to encourage a greater gender balance in politics the percentage of female candidates in this year's general election is down on 2007 figures.
Based on a list of the 566 candidates running in this year's election, 86 women are seeking seats in the 31st Dáil. This figure is marginally up on 2007, however, as there are far more overall candidates this time, the proportion of females represented at the ballot box is reduced to 15.2%.
Of the 470 candidates who sought election four years ago 80, or 17%, were female. 22 of those candidates were ultimately successful in their Dáil bid, meaning females made up just over 13% of the lower house.
Break-down (See infographic below)
On a party-by-party basis the break-down of 2011 candidates based on gender is extremely mixed, though none come close to an even split.
The party with the highest percentage of female candidates in its electoral line-up is Labour, of which over 26% are women. The United Left Alliance grouping comes in at a similar percentage, though as it is fielding far fewer candidates than Labour its actual number of female candidates is significantly lower.
At the other end of the scale, Fianna Fáil has the lowest percentage with just 14.6% of its candidates being female. Fine Gael comes second from bottom with women representing just over 15% of their candidates this year.
However despite having the two lowest gender ratios amongst the main parties both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have increased their percentage of women candidates compared to 2007. Both Sinn Féin and the Green Party have seen the most significant decline in that time, with the latter's female candidature dropping almost 7% to 18.6%.
While some point to the male-dominated hierarchy of political parties as a contributing factor in this imbalance the numbers relating to independent candidates suggests otherwise.
Of the 214 small party and independent candidates running in this election, which would not count those in the United Left Alliance, just 9.2% are female.
Things were slightly better for females in the 'Other' segment in 2007, when 12% of were female. If the now extinct Progressive Democrats are added to the mix the total rises again to 14.5%.
The declining representation of females on the ballot sheet is not a new phenomenon, however, in fact the drop in this election continues a trend that has been in train for the past decade. In the 2002 general election 18.3%, or 85, of the 463 candidates were female. As was the case in 2007, 22 of those went on to become Dáil deputies.
(click here for the full-sized infographic)
- Keywords:
- women in politics,
- general election 2011,
- election ireland,
- voting,
- candidates
