SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY Council has become the first local Council in the history of the State to have a majority-female membership, following the co-opting of three councillors after the general election in November.

The general election last month saw three members of the South Dublin County Council elected as TDs - Ciarán Ahern (Labour), Shane Moynihan (Fianna Fáil) and Paul Gogarty (Independent).

Following the election, three new Councillors, Cllr. Paddy Cosgrave (Labour), Cllr. Jacqueline Sheehy (Fianna Fáil) and Cllr. Helen Farrell (Independent) were co-opted at a Special Meeting of the Council today.

With the addition of Councillors Farrell and Sheehy, South Dublin County Council has made history by their majority female membership, with 21 women now representing 52.5% of the Council.

The Local Elections in June saw 19 of the 40 local Council seats in South Dublin going to female candidates, which was the then highest proportion of women on any Council in the country.

Cllr. Jacqueline Sheehy (Fianna Fáil), Paddy Cosgrave (Labour) and Cllr. Helen Farrell (Independent) who were co-opted at a special meeting of South Dublin County Council today. SDCC SDCC

Speaking at the Special Meeting of the Council, Cllr. Alan Hayes, Deputy Mayor of South Dublin welcomed the co-opted councillors, saying it was a “significant day”.

“Today is a day which shows the women of South Dublin that their voice is heard louder than ever in this chamber,” Hayes said.

Colm Ward, Chief Executive of South Dublin County Council, added that it was “a notable milestone for us as a Council and for local government In Ireland”

“To have majority female membership on the Council reflects how progressive and diverse our County is and builds on the work of our Women’s Caucus which supports continued and new female participation in local politics.

Nationwide, women only make up around 26% of Councillors, a figure which did not change after the local elections in June. 247 out of 949 councillors nationwide are women, according to the National Women’s Council.

While a record number of 677 women contested the elections this year, up from 566 in 2019, they made up only 31% of all of the candidates.

A balanced representation by both women and men is seen as important in strengthening democracy and, as outlined by a European Parliament study,  “is a necessary condition for women’s interests and concerns to be taken into account“.

The National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWC) said in June that they were “very disappointed” at the missed opportunity to break the critical barrier of 40% for women’s representation in Local Government.

The NWC also called on all political parties in September to commit to the introduction of a 40% gender quota for local election candidates in their party manifestos.