Giving Women a Political Voice in Ireland
An Irish gender equality initiative, SHE (See Her Elected), has been awarded The Innovation in Politics Award 2021 in the Democracy category for their work to increase the representation of women in local politics in the rural Northwest-Midlands region of Ireland, fully funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage under the stewardship of Minister Peter Burke.
Dublin City University's School of Law and Government is the Irish partner of the Innovation in Politics Institute who administer the Europe-wide Innovation in Politics Awards.
Professor Deiric Ó Broin from DCU’s School of Law and Government, commented: “Huge congratulations to the SHE (See Her Elected) project which provides invaluable support to women interested in engaging in politics in their community. Initiatives like this one are vital to enhance the visibility of women leaders in politics in Ireland and indeed Europe.”
Ten projects from Germany, Ireland, Poland, Spain and the UK made it through to the 2021 Democracy finalists. The finalists and the winner were selected by a European jury of 1,032 citizens earlier this year.
Ireland’s Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage Peter Burke said: “We are over the moon with the news that See Her Elected has won the Innovation in Politics Award for Democracy, and we commend the leadership shown by the team across the North West of Ireland. The Irish Government has prioritised funding for organisations who work towards greater diversity and gender equality in local politics and Department of Housing officials and I have loved working with Michelle and her team. We must continue to support and encourage more women into local politics, until our political chambers reflect the societies they serve.”
As of May 2021, 25 % of elected local authority councillors in Ireland were women. SHE engages directly with women in their communities through the innovative SHESchool which offers free online classes to give women the knowledge, confidence and skills they need to participate in local politics. So far, six women have decided to stand for election in the 2024 local authority elections.
Minister Burke added: “While progress has been made in increasing the number of women involved in politics, this has been too slow and often limited to the urban areas of the country. We have also seen issues in retaining the talent already within the system. Targeted, influential organisations such as SHE have been instrumental in encouraging more women to consider local politics, and supporting them to stay on and thrive within the system”.
Minister of State Peter Burke and SHE Programme Manager Michelle Maher were presented with the Award in Brussels by Guests of Honour H.E. Dubravka Šuica and Minister of Climate Change, Environment, Energy and Participatory Democracy (Brussels-Capital Region) Alain Maron.
European Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography Dubravka Šuica said:
"Having been elected as the first female Mayor of Dubrovnik twenty years ago, I am keenly aware of the challenges still facing women in politics today. I am delighted that projects, like SHE, highlight the importance of empowering women to make their voices heard and to be represented in their local communities. This contributes to making our democracy stronger, more inclusive and responsive to the needs of citizens."
This year’s Innovation in Politics Awards are being celebrated as a pan-European series of events, taking place from December 2021 until February 2022 under the auspices of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, and the patronage of European Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography, Dubravka Šuica.
CEO of the Innovation in Politics Institute, Edward Strasser, concluded:
“All the projects in the Democracy category make their community more resilient and responsive, and for this I congratulate all finalists. In particular, the winning initiative, SHE, has shown great innovation and courage to shake up the system to empower women to participate in local politics, thus increasing the diversity of representation.”
Minister of Climate Change, Environment, Energy and Participatory Democracy (Brussels-Capital Region) Alain Maron said:
“Innovation is important, especially in politics. It is crucial to help build citizens' trust in their governments and with elected representatives. To awaken citizens to the challenges of our society, it is essential to guarantee that elected politicians are representative of society. Initiatives such as SHE, which won the prize in the democracy category, are a perfect example of a mobilising and inclusive project that strengthens the democratic participation of women in the management of their local areas. I am proud to be a Guest of Honour at the Awards and to explore with other politicians many new and innovative approaches for more participatory democracy.”
DCU partnership with Awards
DCU’s partnership with the Innovation in Politics Awards is a reflection of the university’s commitment to civic and political leadership at home and internationally. The Awards highlight a range of examples of decisions and actions by politicians that make a real and positive difference to people and communities around Ireland.
About the Innovation in Politics Awards
The Innovation in Politics Awards recognise courageous and creative political projects in Europe. The aim of the competition is to identify the brightest minds in politics in Europe and present their solutions to other politicians across borders and party lines for inspiration. Over the past five years, citizens’ juries of 5,000 Europeans have selected 42 winners out of over 2,000 political projects. The Awards are run by the Innovation in Politics Institute in Vienna, Austria.
For more information see: www.innovationinpolitics.eu