Friday, March 23, 2012

Big Phil’s mighty ambition for women in Irish politics

Environment Minister ‘Big Phil’ Hogan wants more women TDs.  As his Electoral (Amendment)(Political Funding Bill 2011 winds its way through the Oireachtas, ‘Big Phil’ envisages that 30% of the candidates selected to contest the next general election un Ireland by the political parties who obtain State funding (Fine Gael, Labour, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin) will have to be females.  That pot of gold is worth €27.28 million over the next five years.  Failure to comply will eliminate the party concerned from any State funding throughout the life of the 32nd Dáil which must take office by February 2015.

The population of Ireland is forecast to increase to 5.69 million by 2026, a mere 14 years ahead. Currently, each TD represents, on average 26,873 voters.  If this ratio were to maintained the Dáil would comprise 211 TD’s in 2026 and Big Phil envisages that 30%, or 63 of them would be women.  This will mean that up to 250 female candidates will have to contest the general election that creates the 34th Dáil.

As the table below shows, ten constituencies account for 45% of the total votes cast for women in 2011 and for 12 of the 25 female TDs.

A female candidate had a 2/1 chance of being elected in Dublin in the 2011 general election but the chances of a female candidate succeeding in the Border, Midland & West Region, or the Mid-West was significantly less. 

There are currently 25 females TDs (15%) among the 166 that populate the 31st Dáil.  There were 85 female candidates (15%) among the 566 that contested the 2011 general election.  These garnered 335,532 (15%) of the total poll of 2,230,359 votes cast.  Three constituencies, Cork South-West, Kildare South and Limerick did not field a single female candidate.  The following is the voting record of women candidates’ in 2011 when women achieved 20%, or more of the votes cast.  Interestingly, the female vote in Galway W was 22% – but not enough to win a seat, while five female TDs won seats with significantly less than a quota.

The 25 female TDs won 178,975 first preference votes – 53% of all votes cast for women.  They spent €354.333 on their campaigns – equivalent to an average of €1.98 per vote

The State has provided taxpayers’ funding of over €90million to political parties in the decade to 2010 – but less than €900,000 was spent on promoting the cause of women in elected politics.  A massive cultural change will be necessary to achieve Big Phil’s dream if it is not to descend to the farce that has befallen the Household Charge and the Septic Tank Charge.

 

Constituency Total Votes Female TDs /
Female
Candidates’ Votes
Female Votes % Total Votes

Carlow-Kilkenny

73,743

(1) 18,647

25%

Cavan-Monaghan

71,275

(1) 21,253

30%

Clare

57,916

1,099

2%

Cork E

56,933

(1) 6,802

12%

Cork NC

52,137

(1) 7,676

15%

Cork NW

45,740

(1) 9,436

21%

Cork SC

64,040

9,038

14%

Cork SW

45,658

0

0

Donegal NE

37,918

1,150

3%

Donegal SW

43,263

5,211

12%

Dublin C

34,612

(2) 15,583

45%

Dublin MW

42,722

(2) 14,776

35%

Dublin N

49,347

(1) 7,513

15%

Dublin NC

38,774

2,641

7%

Dublin NE

41,839

4,794

11%

Dublin NW

32,811

(1) 9,359

29%

Dublin S

72,646

(1) 19,948

27%

Dublin SC

50,927

(2) 12,178

24%

Dublin SE

34,919

(1) 7,248

21%

Dublin SW

45,964

3,678

8%

Dublin W

42,472

(1) 9,627

23%

Dun Laoghaire

56,676

(1) 19,926

35%

Galway E

59,276

7,755

13%

Galway W

60,625

13,418

22%

Kerry N- W Limerick

45,614

2,161

5%

Kerry S

44,380

5,327

12%

Kildare N

51,222

(1) 11,688

23%

Kildare S

38,270

0

0

Laois-Offaly

74,158

(1) 5,817

8%

Limerick

45,041

0

0

Limerick City

43,188

(1) 6,843

16%

Longford-W’meath

57,525

(1) 3,555

7%

Louth

69,319

4,546

7%

Mayo

74,154

(1)17,215

23%

Meath E

42,752

(1) 9,845

23%

Meath W

40,178

9,809

24%

Roscommon-S Leitrim

47,504

0

0

Sligo-N Leitrim

44,428

5,672

13%

Tipperary N

48,273

8,709

18%

Tipperary S

41,361

4,525

11%

Waterford

53,720

(1) 5,554

10%

Wexford

75,539

175

0%

Wicklow

70,500

(1) 5,436

8%

       

TDs,
ranked by votes

Votes

Party

Spend/Vote

Mitchell, O

9,635

FG

€1.59

Burton, J

9,627

Lab

€2.27

Shorthall, R

9,359

Lab

€1.17

Mitchell-O’Connor, M

9,087

FG

€1.91

Mulherin, M

8,851

FG

€1.67

Doherty, R

8,677

FG

€1.73

Humphreys, H

8,144

FG

€1.32

Phelan, A

8,072

Lab

€2.55

Lynch, K

7,896

Lab

€1.94

Collins, A

7,884

FG

€1.50

Daly, C

7,513

S

€0.85

Tuffy, J

7,495

Lab

€1.92

Fitzgerald, F

7,281

FG

€2.11

Murphy, C

6,911

Ind

€2.61

Creighton, L

6,619

FG

€2.61

Collins, J

6,574

PBPA

€1.64

O’Sullivan, J

6.353

Lab

€2.47

McLellan, S

6,292

SF

€1.44

McFadden, N

6,129

FG

€1.66

Corcoran-Kennedy, M

5,817

FG

€2.62

Byrne, C

5,604

FG

€1.82

Conway, C

5,554

Lab

€2.30

Ferris, A

5,436

Lab

€2.67

McDonald, ML

4,526

SF

€4.52

O’Sullivan, M

4,139

Ind

€2.69

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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