Sinn Féin has the lowest level of female participation in local government, with women accounting for less than 10 per cent of its councillors, a new survey has found
According to the survey by the General Council of County Councils, the number of women on county and city councils continues to be low, with men still accounting for over 80 per cent of local representatives.
The survey found that out of the 883 city and county councillors, 17.5 per cent are women, an increase of 23 female councillors on the 1999 election.
This increase is less than the increase in 1999, when an additional 29 female representatives were returned.
In seven of the 34 city and county councils, women account for 10 per cent or less of the seats, the lowest proportion being in Clare, where two of the 32 seats are occupied by women.
Women account for two seats on the county councils in Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Monaghan, Westmeath, North Tipperary and South Tipperary, which all have between 20 and 23 seats.
The highest female representation rate is in Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown, where 39 per cent of the 28 seats are occupied by women. Fingal council, with 38 per cent, comes second. The highest proportion of female representatives is in the Dublin area.
The party with the largest female representation is Fine Gael with 57 female councillors. Fianna Fáil, which had 42 female councillors going into the election, returned the same number on June 11th.
Sinn Féin has the lowest female representation, with five of its 54 members being female.
Of the larger parties, Labour has the highest proportion of female representatives, with 21 per cent of its 101 seats taken by women.
The PDs have the highest proportion overall, with women accounting for 48 per cent of the party's 19 councillors.
Mr Liam Kenny, director of the General Council, said the findings contradicted research last week from University College Cork which suggested that the placing of photographs on ballot papers in some way enhanced the prospects of female candidates.
"Overall the growth in the number of female local representatives has been painfully slow," he said.
"Only two councils, Dún Laoghaire and Fingal, come in any way close to meeting the 40 per cent guideline which is used for the boards of State companies."
The survey showed that out of the 34 councils, only five of the chairs or mayoral offices have been taken by women.
Former Labour government minister Ms Niamh Breathnach, who is the chairwoman of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, said Irish politics continued to be organised in "an old fashioned way" which was not attractive to women.
Citing evening meetings which could go on late into the night, she said the hours were often not compatible with childcare and family commitments.
She also criticised the Government for failing to do enough to encourage greater female participation. "I think this Government isn't as committed to gender proofing as it says it is," she said.
Cllr Mary Bohan of Fianna Fáil, one of two women on Leitrim County Council, said the lack of women had not been a hindrance to her getting work done on the council.
"I've been on the council since 1979, so I don't find any difficulty in being accepted."
She believed that long meetings, lack of creche facilities, and meeting times at family unfriendly hours meant that involvement in politics was often an impossibility for many women.
"Being a councillor is nearly a full-time job now," she said.