Women in Parliament: The Irish Experience 1918-2000

The bitter struggle of the British siffragettes to secure the vote for women ended in success when the franchise was extended to women in the UK in the 1918 election.This election also resulted in the the election of the first woman to the UK parliament. That woman was the Anglo Irish Countess Constance Markievicz born Constance Gore-Booth, one of the "two girls in pink kimonos, one beautiful, one a gazelle" in Yeats's poem "In memory of Constance Gore Booth and Con Markievicz".

Constance had discarded her kimono in favour of a stout skirt and a revolver and has joined the revolutionaries seeking an independent Ireland. The 1918 election was the last all- Ireland election and returned a huge majority of republican deputies in reaction to the execution of the leaders of the unsuccessful 1916 rebellion. Although Countess Markievciz was elected to the Westminster parliament she never took her seat there as the republican deputies set up their own parliament in Dublin where the Countess was made Minsiter for Labour. To be appointed a minister she had to threaten the conservative Catholic leader of her party, Eamon De Valera with withdrawal of support if he did not appoint her. The early women republican deputies largley opposed the Treaty that led to the partition of Ireland and DeValera, who entered parliament in 1932 after 10 years of abstenetion resented their unwillingness to compromise on principles.

From the foundation of the Irish state in 1922 women played a significant role in the parliaments of Ireland and Northern Ireland. In the republic of Ireland they tried in vain to prevent the ultra -conservative republican leader Eamon DeValera introducing anti-women legislation. De Valera's view that women should be kept pregnant and barefoot prevailed until the 1970s when women deputies and senators began a campaign to remove the more blatently sexist legislation. The most prominent of those women was Mary Robinson,the UN Commissioner for Human Rights who elected to the Irish Senate at the age of 25. Mary Robinson won major cases against the Irish government in the areas of womens and human rights. Mary Robinson was president of Ireland from 1990 to 1997 and her presidency represented the final stage of Ireland's transition from a backward, periperal country enslaved to Catholic doctrine to a modern vibrant European society. In the 1992 election 22 women deputies were elected and in the 1997 presidential election, three of the four candidates were women.

In the early years of the Irish state the widows of Dail deputies did not receive pensions and many women who were elected were the widows of male deputies. Some of these were superwomen before the concept was thought of. Mary Bridget Ryan a deputy from the 1940s to the 1960s was the mother of nine children aged from three to nineteen when she was widowed at the age of 45. She won her late husbands seat and was Dail deputy for 18 years and never missed a vote while bringing up her large family and running her farm. Maureen O Carroll a mother of ten children was a founder of the Lower Prices Council established in 1947 to campaign againstthe high prices, scarcity and black marketeering which followed the ending of the War. She helped convene a Womens National Council of action which was seen as a threat by the government and monitored secretly by the police.

In Northern Ireland women have played a leading role in the eforts to bring peace. Of these the most prominent is Monica McWilliams, founder of the Northern Ireland's womens coalition, a party that transcends the nationalist and unionist categories. While they have worked to bring peace and reconciliation it is significant that their eforts have been derided by another woman deputy in the Northern Irish Assembly, the Democratic Unionist, Iris Robinson who described the people who voted for them as "idiots"...

A signifcant aspect of women's participation in Irieland's parliament was that many of them entered national politics in order to forward particular issues, often women's issues. Unlike men who often seek power for its own sake, many of the women cited in this book sought power in order to create a better society, particularly for women and children. It is significant that one of the world's first women prime ministers, Mrs Banderenyike of Sri Lanka made the abolition of child malnutrition one of her priorities and almost succeeded in achieving it.

Women have of course faced tremendous obstacles in getting elected to parliament in Ireland. The usual male chauvinism of Irish society was compounded by the crippling effects of Catholic doctrine incoporated in the Constitution and laws of Ireland. The constitution of Ireland was greatly influenced by Catholic doctrine and explicitly states that a woman's place is in the home. In a study in this book, entitled "Pathways to Power" the results of a survey of all living members and ex-members of the Irish parliament are reported. The survey found that balancing political and family responsibilities was a major problem for many women. Few Irish men take an active role in the care of children and housework and so women must often do at least two jobs. It is significant that Mary Robinson, Ireland's most successful woman parliamentarian was sufficiently wealthy to be able to employ fulltime domestic help from the beginning of her career. The current deputy prime minister of Ireland, Mary Harney, is unemcumbered by those barriers to woman's achievement, a husband and children. The unthinking sexism of the male members of the Irish parliament was shown by the comment of a former prime minister, Albert Reynolds who growing tetchy on being challenged by a woman deputy said "That's women for you!"

Worldwide women hold 14 per cent of parliamentary seats and they hold 13 per cent of the seats in the Dail, Ireland's lower house of parliament. Ireland's level of female parliamentary representation is similar to that in the USA and is bettter than that in Italy, Greece and France but very much behind countries such as Sweden and even Australia which is not a very feminised society.There is no guarantee that the number of women in Irelands parliament's will increase unless Irish political parties emulate the British Labour Party and develop a coherent policy of getting womenelected. A key difficulty for women seeking political office identified in the book was lack of funding for political campaigns. In the wake of a series of scandals the issue of state funding of political parties in Ireland is being considered. This would be of major advantage to women.

Feminist historians argue that women and their achievements have been largely hidden from history. An important aspect of this book is the recording of the life and contributions of the less well known Irish women parliamentarians who against formidable obstacles kept the cause of women on the political agenda in Ireland. This book while contaning important polcitical research is also an entertaining biographical dictionary Many of the women led interesting crowded, energetic lives, in stark contrast to the colourless aparatchicks that constitute the majority of male parliamentarians in Ireland and worldwide

Women in Parliament: The Irish Experience 1918-2000

Paschal Mooney, M. McNamara

Reader Reviews:

Interesting account of all of Irelands women parlimentarians (0/0 people found this helpful)

Categories