Women for Election was founded in 2012 by Niamh Gallagher and Michelle O’Donnell Keating. Both young women had worked together on the Lisbon Referendum campaign and encountered hundreds of women across Ireland who were interested in running for election, but felt they needed support to get involved.
Niamh and Michelle were inspired to do something to develop that support, and so, Women for Election was born. From our first training programme in 2012, Women for Election has supported over 3,000 women from all over Ireland to enter and succeed in politics. We’re proud of the many women who have come through our progammes and now sit on Councils, in the Dail, Seanad and the European Parliament.
Our work continues, and almost 10 years on, our mission is now more relevant than ever.
We believe that women from a diversity of backgrounds – right across society in Ireland – have the right to participate fully in the government of their country. Through extensive collaboration we are leading a process in Ireland to ensure that all women can fulfil this right through our advocacy, training and capacity building.
We are a not for profit and non-partisan organisation – we have a proud record of not taking sides with specific parties or beliefs. We work proactively to increase the diversity of women in Irish politics driven by our feminist and rights based values.
In undertaking this leadership role, we will be challenging and collegiate and will rely on local and international evidence.
We work with all women who share our commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and uphold the values contained within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Our values are guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in particular Articles 1, 2, 7, 21 and 29.
Our vision is an Ireland with full participation by women in Irish politics. We want to see 1,000 women on the ticket in the 2024 local elections and 250 women running in the next general election. We want these women to reflect the diversity of women in Irish society.
Governments which reflect the diversity of the society they represent make better decisions. In 2012, 16% of TD’s were women, in 2021 this is now at 23%. The introduction of gender quotas in 2016 and a doubling of the number of women running for election are two of the main drivers of this change in Ireland in the past 10 years.
Our challenge now is to lead the way, through extensive collaboration, to get to 50/50 by 2030. You could say we are half-way there?
We continue to encourage and support more women from a diversity of backgrounds to run for election. We are advocating for party political leadership and widespread systemic changes so that a diversity of women are resourced and selected to winnable seats.
Women for Election continues to grow our capacity in order to implement an ambitious strategy to achieve 50/50 by 2030.
We are continuing to build relationships with foundations, government departments, business and individual donors. We are especially thankful to our Constance Markievicz Circle members who give generously every year. We are also grateful for annual funding we have been receiving for the past 4 years from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage which is vital for the delivery of our training programmes.
Over the past decade we have received generous support from the Community Foundation of Ireland, the Ireland Funds and Social Entrepreneurs Ireland.
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Carmichael Centre, Coleraine House,
Coleraine Street, Dublin 7 D07 E8XF
Tel: 01 672 8050
