Press Release 

Missed Opportunity: Council Co-Options show net gain of just six women on County Councils.  

20th December 2024

Opportunity to make substantial gain towards gender parity in local government squandered. 

“Women for Election are disappointed that political parties have not used the opportunity of Councillor co-options following the General Election to make a substantial change to the gender make-up of City and County councils”, said Brian Sheehan, CEO of Women for Election. 

Fifty-two Councillors were elected to the 34th Dail: 12 women and 42 men. Almost all have now been replaced by co-options to their City or County Councils following an internal process by their political parties, with 48 of the 52 complete. 

“With a net gain of just six women Councillors to date, there is just a negligible change to the already very low percentage of women in Local Government: a one percentage point gain to 26%. Ireland remains one of the worst countries in Europe for the number of women in Local Government.” 

“Incumbency is the biggest challenge women face when contesting seats in local or national government. When three quarters of Councillors are men, and when 84% of outgoing Councillors run for re-election and 86% of those are re-elected, then the room for new women to represent their communities in local government is vanishingly small.” 

“This is why Political Parties should be using every available opportunity to promote the talented, capable women in their ranks to local government whenever possible, and to build a wider diversity in local democracy. Politics at local and national level will be much better and more representative of the people it serves with a balance of men and women involved.” 

“The outcome of the co-options underscores the ongoing challenge of achieving gender parity in Irish politics. With no additional women elected during the local elections in June, these 52 vacancies presented a critical opportunity to increase the representation of women in local councils. Had all these seats been filled by women, it would have been a net increase of 40 women Councillors, bringing the percentage of women in Local Government to 30% and signalling a transformative step forward.” 

There are differences in the number of women co-opted across the larger parties. Fianna Fáil (with 2 co-options remaining to be competed), have a net gain of just 2 women out of the 12 Councillor vacancies due to Councillors being elected as TDs. Fine Gael have a net gain of 4 women from the 14 Councillor positions. Sinn Féin have a net loss of four women from the 9 Councillor positions. 

“In a very welcome development, South Dublin County Council becomes the first in the State to have a majority of women Councillors through the co-options. However, the 30 other City or County Councils have had a majority of men since they were established, and just three councils currently have more than 40% women.” 

“This latest co-option outcome is a stark reminder that opportunities to advance gender equity in politics must not be squandered. It is time for both the government and for political parties to take consistent, bold and decisive action to ensure women are represented fairly and fully at all levels of government”, concluded Sheehan. 

ENDS