Claire McGing’s research while affiliated with Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology and other places

Ireland’s Decade of Centenaries, beginning in 2012, has seen the commemoration of a period of significant social and political transformation. For scholars of gender and politics, it also provides the opportunity to take stock of women’s path to greater political representation (ultimately aided by the introduction of a candidate gender quota in 2016) and to highlight key areas where more work needs to be done in order to understand how women can enjoy greater inclusion and participation, as well as representation of their interests, going forward. This symposium provides an overview of what we know about the causes of women’s underrepresentation in Irish political life so far, before addressing some of these areas where our understanding is as yet underdeveloped. In doing so, it contributes to the developing knowledge of the Irish case. Overall, the symposium highlights diverse forms of women’s political participation in the Republic of Ireland.

This article examines the development of caucuses by women councillors in Irish local government in the wake of the 2017 launch of a caucus for women members of the Oireachtas. The multi-method research offers a rich, gendered assessment of the factors which enable and constrain the establishment and operations of caucuses for women councillors and it places a particular focus on the first local caucuses established in the country (Limerick City and County [2019] and Dublin City [2020]). Local government in Ireland provides a unique opportunity to support such an investigation as partisanship is less significant there than it is at the national level. The research illuminates the circumstances under which we can expect locally elected women of different parties and ideologies to come together in order to cooperate. Enabling circumstances include a high level of interest and gender consciousness among women councillors – with new women identified as key players – and the presence of a caucus entrepreneur and a dedicated secretariat. Importantly, the study demonstrates how geographical differences in women’s representation impact on caucuses and posits that caucus structures are not necessarily feminist or intersectional spaces. The article makes an important contribution to global research in this area which tends to focus on caucuses in national parliaments.

This Social Media Toolkit details a clear pathway of actions for Irish political parties to tackle violence against women in politics.

The Seanad election campaign is usually a unique process requiring candidates to traverse the country, but in 2020 it was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. Campaigning moved online, and the election count took place under strict social distancing guidelines and without the presence of candidates and campaign teams, who followed proceedings online. The chapter provides a detailed overview of the regulations governing the complex Seanad electoral process and the strategies adopted by parties and candidates. An evaluation of the election results and the characteristics of the senators in the 26th Seanad are provided, along with an assessment of the potential for future Seanad reform which has been the enduring debate in, and about, Seanad Éireann almost since its inception.

This study examines how Ireland’s political parties responded to the implementation of legislative gender quotas for the first time at the 2016 Dáil election. Using a dataset that includes biographical and electoral information on all candidates for the 2007, 2011 and 2016 general elections, we assess whether the profile of candidates nominated in 2016 differed from previous elections. Although many parties ‘balanced the books’ by nominating fewer inexperienced male candidates, the evidence suggests that some parties engaged in ‘sacrificial lamb’ strategies when it came to the selection of women candidates. In 2016, women non-incumbents nominated by Fine Gael were significantly less experienced and less able to raise funds than in previous elections. In addition, women non-incumbents nominated by both Fine Gael and Labour in 2016 were significantly more likely to run non-competitive races even after controlling for party, experience, funding support and other factors. The paper concludes that political parties are not homogenous and respond differently to gender quotas depending on the available political opportunity structure (POS). In 2016, this POS was shaped by electoral context, party resources, male incumbency and resistance to gender quotas.

Objectives How do surges in female representation in public life affect media coverage? Can the media underrepresent the reality of women's progress? If so, is the source of underrepresentation the media itself or social elites that interact with the media? Methods Using automatic content analysis, we study two remarkable step changes in women's role in public life in Ireland: the 2016 elections and 2012 Olympics. Results The increase in female participation was associated with a new and substantial gender gap in coverage, which we attribute to the media, not other elites. Conclusions We cannot assume that media coverage will increase proportionally as women advance in public life. The reemergence of bias when female representation jumps may also exist outside the media in any context where there are large numbers of decisions about whether to favor males or females.

This report discusses feminist and gender geographies in Ireland. We first focus on the ways in which gender constructs Irish geographies, updating numbers of women in academic positions across Ireland. This shows that women are increasingly in secure positions, but remain under-represented in more senior positions. We then turn to research. We discuss how femininities and women, and masculinities and men, have been addressed in Irish geographies. The focus on femininities and women is crucial given recent strides towards gender and reproductive justice. We then briefly summarise sexualities work. The report concludes by arguing that Ireland not only has vibrant gender/feminist geographical scholarship, it also has significant potential for emerging research and developing new theorisations and research agendas.