*Clare’s current female elected representatives (l-r) Cllr Ann Norton, Mayor of Ennis Municipal District; Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy; Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne TD; Cllr Mary Howard; Senator Róisín Garvey; and Cllr Donna McGettigan; pictured with Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (centre), County Clare’s first-ever female TD. Photograph: Eamon Ward
A NEW TRAINING CALENDAR has been launched to encourage more women into politics in Clare.
Currently four of the twenty eight councillors in Clare are women while two of the county’s seven Oireachtas members are female.
Women for Election has launched its new training calendar to help attract and support more women to enter and succeed into local politics in advance of the next local elections in 2024. The Autumn and Winter Training and Events calendar, has a comprehensive offering both online and in person, which are taking place in various counties across Ireland.
Caitríona Gleeson, CEO of Women for Election outlined, “While May 2024 may seem far away for many of us, for anyone considering running for Local Elections, now is the time to get involved. Our trainings are aimed for every woman, whether they want to find out more about politics, support a woman to run, explore what it means to run, or re-run for election, we have something for everybody”.
Nationally women make up 26 percent of councillors but the figure in Clare is lower, standing at 14 percent. Caitríona said, “We know that women are so involved across community groups and leadership roles in Clare, yet the number of women involved at decision making tables doesn’t reflect that”.
She added, “It is critical that women’s voices are represented at all levels of decision making. With the Local Elections approaching in 2024 now is the ideal time to get involved in politics and put your name forward to represent your community”.
Trainings include an introduction to politics which informs participants about the structures of politics, the INSPIRE Campaign School which covers confidence, communications and campaigning and the EQUIP Campaign Programme which is an intensive training for women who are getting ready to run for election or manage another women’s campaign, along with many other workshops and events. The trainings are bespoke to help address some of the barriers to women accessing politics and delivered by Orlaith Carmody, Margaret E Ward, Pat Montague and Dermot Ryan.
Most trainings are offered for free and for any training with a cost attached, there are bursaries and concessionary rates available as Women for Election don’t want cost to be a barrier to accessing these trainings. The calendar is available at womenforelection.ie/training-programmes
Orlaith Carmody is an Irish businesswoman, author and former news reporter and co-founder of Gavin Duffy and Associates along with her husband and business partner, Dragon’s Den investor Gavin Duffy.
Margaret E. Ward is a well-known entrepreneur, journalist and broadcaster based in Dublin, Ireland. She has worked in The Irish Times, Sunday Times and as a presenter on Newstalk. She’s currently CEO of Clear Ink and Broadly Speaking.
Pat Montague heads up Montague Communications and is one of the leading consultants working with the not-for-profit sector over the last 30 years. He has also provided communications advice to a number of former Government ministers.
Dermot Ryan has over 25 years of experience working as a campaigner and advisor. Dermot returned to Ireland in 2017 after seven years in Australia, where he served as Head of External Affairs Earlier with Amnesty International and as Chief of Staff at the Transport Workers’ Union. Dermot is a senior adviser to Ivana Bacik TD (LAB) and was campaign manager for her successful 2021 bye-election campaign.
