Northern Ireland Debate Women in Politics (Summary)
In only the second debate following the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly,
members debated the lack of women in the Assembly and the under-representation of
women in political life generally in Northern Ireland. One of the Assembly’s new
members, Sinn Fein’s Jennifer McCann MLA, introduced the motion.
The motion proposed the establishment of an all-party working group to discuss the
under-representation of women and called on the Executive to implement and
resource a comprehensive strategy to tackle this under-representation. Although the
motion did not specifically mention quotas or positive discrimination, Ms McCann
did argue for political parties to adapt strategies to increase the number of successful
women candidates by using positive action in their recruitment and selection
processes. The debate therefore became centred on the use of quotas versus
election/selection by merit. Michelle McIlveen of the DUP proposed an amendment
to the motion, which removed the establishment of the working group and the
implementation of a strategy to combat female under-representation. Rather, the
amendment emphasized the commitment of the Office of the First Minister and
Deputy First Minister to implementing the Gender Equality Strategy and the need for
individuals to gain positions on merit. Miss McIlveen argued that the primary
problem is that women are not seeking elected office. She stated, ‘society is now
willing to accept and elect female politicians, if only more could be encouraged to
appear on the ballot paper. Forcing them onto the ballot paper is not the answer’.
However, Sinn Fein, SDLP and PUP speakers did accept that there were structural
barriers preventing women’s participation in politics and they acknowledged that
positive action could have a role to play in increasing the numbers of women elected.
Dawn Purvis (DUP), the only female party leader in Northern Ireland said, ‘I do not
particularly agree with quotas, but they could be useful where there is reluctance to
examine barriers that are faced by women’.
The other key issue was the establishment of an all-party working group, of which
there was rather limited discussion. The main point of debate was whether a
comprehensive strategy already existed within the gender equality strategy, as both
Michelle McIlveen and Arlene Foster (DUP) argued. Or, as John O’Dowd (SF)
argued, that the gender equality strategy does not particularly refer to women in
politics, which was ultimately what the motion was about, therefore still creating a
need for a working party on this subject.
The amendment to the original motion was carried 44 to 43, and read:
That this Assembly expresses serious concerns about the
under-representation of women in the Assembly and calls on
all parties to commit themselves to addressing the situation; and
recognises the commitment of the Office of the First Minister and
Deputy First Minister to implement the Gender Equality Strategy;
and believes that individuals should obtain positions on merit,
otherwise the argument for greater representation from women can
be diminished.