Rights Group Says General Election Needs To Be 'breakthrough' For Women

Rights group says general election needs to be 'breakthrough' for women

A women's rights campaigner says the general election needs to be a breakthrough in gender equality. Figures published in the Irish Times toady show most parties are on track to reach the gender quota ahead of the election, but Fianna Fáil is lagging behind. Every party must field at least 30 percent female candidates, or face a 50 percent cut in funding from the exchequer. Orla O'Connor, director of the National Women's Council of Ireland, says gender quotas are necessary to make Irish politics more representative. "I just think this issue in terms of 'has the gender quotas skewed things a little bit in terms of democratic processes?' - it is fundamentally undemocratic to have 84 percent of our representatives in the Dáil being male, and that's what has to change in this election" she said. "And that's why it's really important that this election is a breakthrough for women and is a breakthrough for women's equality" she added.