A chara, – Derek J Byrne raises the question of whether any self-respecting woman would allow herself to be the token woman when she knows that there is a more-suited man for the job ("Gender quotas not the answer for women in politics", Opinion & Analysis, March 9th). Mr Byrne reveals his rather naive impression that such appointments are indeed made on merit. True equality in politics will be achieved when we have an equal number of mediocre seat-fillers of both sexes in power. – Is mise,
DOIREANN
NÍ GHRIOGHAIR,
Dublin 1.
Sir, – The outcome of gender quotas will be to allow a power-grab by the party elite over ordinary members and encourage the political parties to be more conservative, not less, in their candidate selection. They will choose from the same pool of the middle aged and middle class, with money to spare, no childcare problems, the right family connections or an inside line to the party hierarchy. They will do nothing for the female citizen who works in the private sector, has two small children and a long commute. – Yours, etc,
DANIEL SULLIVAN,
Dublin 2.
A chara, – Peter McMahon (March 11th) describes a utopian situation indeed – one which I very much hope to see happen in my lifetime. And I am heartened to learn that Abbeyfeale is already such a haven of gender equality. Mr McMahon may be interested in perusing the National Women's Council of Ireland's recent publication (March 2015) highlighting the current gender pay gap (13.9 per cent), the high percentage of women who work part-time, as well the absence of paid paternity leave, thus placing the greater burden of childcare on women.
That said, he makes such a good case I might just abandon the revolution and move to Co Limerick myself! – Is mise,
MAEBH NÍ CHATHALÁIN,
Ranelagh, Dublin 6.
Sir, – I look forward to the day when we put the era of the old boy networks and cronyism behind us, but changing the gender profile of the Dáil will, of itself, do nothing to remedy the well-documented deficiencies of the Dáil, for example the lack of relevant expertise, groupthink, guillotining and the whip system.
Candidates should be chosen on the basis of ability and merit, irrespective of gender. Introducing one form of sexual discrimination to combat another may be well intentioned, but it is seriously misguided. – Yours, etc,
ROB SADLIER,
Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.