Ireland Considers Quotas - Building Gender Balanced Business

“The pub and pint-buying patriarchal, traditionalist culture of Irish politics is echoed and reflected in every political party.” — Ivana Bacik, Labor Party senator

Irish women are better educated than Irish men (53% of women ages 25-34 have college degrees, compared to 39% of men that age), and the country has boasted two women presidents in the past, yet only 15% of the lower house of Parliament are women.

This is significantly less than the European Union average of 25%. Even Pakistan has more female lawmakers than Ireland.

“We have a problem with our political culture, and it’s very deep-seated, because the assumption is that men ‘do’ power,” that ‘power is a masculine thing’.” — Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Fein deputy leader

Despite this male dominated political culture, the bill is expected to pass. With 14% unemployment and a national debt of $159 billion — a meltdown acknowledged by many to be the result of rampant cronyism — people understand that something must change. The hope is that a more gender-balanced government will make better decisions.

“If we constantly talk about the fact that if more women were elected then things would be different, then … we need to start acting differently — now. Otherwise, what’s the point? Why not just elect all men?” — Kathleen Lynch, deputy minister in the Departments of Health and Justice and Equality

Read the full New York Times story here