Madam, – The move to threaten parties with a 50 per cent cut in their State funding if 30 per cent of their general election candidates aren’t female is a regressive step (Front page, May 28th).
To the best of my knowledge, both Fine Gael and Labour now have democratic one-member one-vote selection conventions, while Fianna Fáil looks set to implement a similar regime. This proposal will force party HQs to tinker with and quite possibly overrule democratic decisions taken by open selection conventions if the required number of female candidates isn’t reached. The likely result of such action is that any woman added to a ticket in such a fashion is most unlikely to be elected given the likely hostile local reaction to their candidacy – all Irish politics are local after all.
Also, given that only about 12 per cent of Independent candidates in February’s general election were female, what sense does it make to threaten parties with sanctions if they don’t nominate at least 30 per cent female candidates? It’s pretty clear that the problem is not that females are being prevented from participating, but rather that they are choosing not to participate. That is the problem that needs to be addressed, and the Government have chosen not to address it, but instead adopt a policy which can’t but damage mainstream grassroots democracy. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I find the proposed legislation on this matter very disturbing. We already have legislation which prevents any bias towards any gender in the jobs market. Surely this would contravene it? Apart from which, it is my opinion that it should always be the best person for the job, regardless of gender; the decision should be based on suitability and availability. – Yours, etc,