Sir, – Gerard Howlin’s article headlined “Little wonder that women are still avoiding politics” (Opinion, July 4th) describes politics as “out of reach for too many women”, due to it coming alive as part of the “night-time economy during hours when children need to be fed and have an adult at home with them”.
Leaving aside any suggestion that only women are capable of feeding and minding children, we respectfully wish to inform Mr Howlin that there is a strong cohort of women across rural Ireland who see no need whatsoever to faithfully mimic the norms of doing politics and are ready to challenge the status quo as they prepare for the 2024 local elections with the help of See Her Elected (She). These norms were created by men and largely suit men, as Mr Howlin points out.
See Her Elected is a grassroots organisation managed by Longford Women’s Link. We equip women with the skills, knowledge and confidence to run in local elections through a series of free online election workshops and a comprehensive and practical guidebook.
We also collaborate with local authorities and secondary schools throughout the country to demystify local politics and ways of getting involved in local decision-making as well as providing voter education.
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Hundreds of women all over rural Ireland are being supported to work out their own way of putting an election campaign together that rests on their strengths as powerhouses in community activism and simply getting things done. They have been working as early as 2021 on raising their profiles locally and within parties, and on detailed 2024 local election campaign, canvass and communications strategies that work for them as women with busy complicated lives. For those who are only now recognising their local political ambitions, we have an accelerated Fast Track to Election Workshop programme commencing in September 2023.
Rather than concentrate on barriers, we believe it’s time to reframe the narrative and talk about the many opportunities and benefits of having more women at decision-making tables and the positive impact this can bring to society.
Becoming an elected representative is challenging, the hours are long, the work is demanding but the rewards are there.
Women’s commitment to volunteerism and valuable contributions to their communities means they are often filling in gaps without the power to do anything about those gaps. By being elected to their county council, they can become a catalyst for the change they know their communities need.
We risk turning even more women off running for election if we don’t make a greater effort to highlight the positive aspects of running for elected office. – Yours, etc,
MICHELLE MAHER,
MAIRÉAD O’SHEA,
KATHLEEN CONNOLLY,
SHE – See Her Elected
Longford Women’s Link,
Co Longford.