‘Doing politics in a different way’: the establishment of caucuses for women councillors in Irish Local Government

When women enter political institutions, they continue to confront masculinised spaces and encounter rules and norms that contribute to their marginalisation. These gendered institutional contexts may limit the ability of women politicians as individuals to ‘make a difference’ to the political process and progress gender equality goals. For this reason, women politicians around the world have established cross-party caucuses to facilitate their collaboration as women and which allow for collective action across partisan and ideological lines.

Following the establishment of the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus by women members of the Oireachtas in 2017, women councillors in a number of local authorities in Ireland have expressed an interest in forming their own caucus structure and two have already done so, using very different models. Women remain under-represented in the ranks of local councillors, as indeed they are in the Oireachtas. At present, there are 241 women councillors and they represent just 25% of all local authority representatives. This is below the EU average of 32% for women’s representation in local government.

Drawing on extensive original research with women councillors and stakeholders, this talk outlines the opportunities and challenges of establishing caucuses for women councillors in Irish local government. It identifies the level of interest among women councillors for cross-party collaboration along gender lines, outlines the formal and informal practices in local authorities that both facilitate and constrain the establishment and effectiveness of caucuses, and examines the experiences of caucuses already formed in Limerick and Dublin City. Importantly, the research asks whether caucuses for women councillors have the potential to advance gender equality in politics and policy.

Guest Speaker:

Claire McGing, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, IADT Dún Laoghaire Gender and Politics researcher

Claire McGing is a member of the senior management team at IADT Dún Laoghaire, leading on equality, diversity and inclusion, Athena SWAN and the Framework for Consent in HEIs. She has published research widely on gender politics and Irish politics, including chapters in the 2011, 2016 and 2020 editions of How Ireland Voted (Palgrave Macmillan) and a number of reports on women’s representation in Irish local government for the National Women’s Council of Ireland (funded by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government). Forthcoming publications include ‘Women’s representation in Dáil Éireann in revolutionary and post-revolutionary Ireland’, in: Linda Connolly (eds). Women and the Irish Revolution (Irish Academic Press, Dublin) and a special issue of Irish Political Studies on gender and politics on the island of Ireland, co-edited with Lisa Keenan (TCD) and Maria-Adriana Deiana (QUB). Claire is also a regular contributor to Irish media on gender politics and Irish elections.