Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Earlier today I launched the Government's programme to commemorate the centenary of the introduction of voting rights for women in parliamentary elections. The programme booklet reprints a remarkable piece of correspondence from Prime Minister Lloyd George to Countess Markievicz, which is now in the collection of the National Museum of Ireland. The letter is a short, formal, three-sentence invitation to Countess Markievicz to attend the reopening of Parliament at Westminster. It addresses the new MP as “Sir”. The envelope has the original postal address of Dublin St. Patrick’s, the constituency to which Countess Markievicz was elected, but it is overwritten and redirected to Holloway Prison in London.

In those two small details we can detect the seismic changes in the political landscape of our world 100 years ago: a system which had just opened its doors to women’s participation in political life but could not quite believe that the MP for Dublin St. Patrick’s was not “Sir” but “Madam”, and that the self-same madam, instead of taking a seat in His Majesty’s Parliament, was incarcerated in His Majesty’s Prison Holloway as a result of her political activities in seeking an independent Irish republic.

Those two joint but separate campaigns - the struggle for Irish freedom and the struggle for women’s political rights - were core to Countess Markievicz’s work. The Representation of the People Act 1918, enacted on this very day 100 years ago, gave some women aged over 30 and all men over the age of 21 the right to vote for the first time.

This had the effect of tripling the size of the electorate, which no doubt had a significant impact on the subsequent election. The Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act, passed in November 1918, further allowed women to stand for election on an equal footing with men for the first time. While 17 women stood in the general election, only Countess Markievicz was elected. In Ireland, Sinn Féin alone put forward women candidates, Countess Markievicz, who was victorious in the Dublin St. Patrick's constituency, and Winifred Carney, in Belfast Victoria. Women would have to await passage of the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922 by the Third Dáil for full and equal voting rights in time for the election to the Fourth Dáil on 27 August 1923. It is no consolation that women in the UK did not achieve an equal franchise until 1928. Meanwhile, Countess Markievicz would become a Member of Dáil Éireann and our first female Cabinet Minister in 1919. It would take 60 years before another woman sat at the Cabinet table in Government Buildings.

The programme I announced today outlines some of the key commemorative events which will be held during the year, including exhibitions, celebrations, hedge schools, talks, stamps and seminars. It will complement the Votáil 100 commemorations organised by the Houses of the Oireachtas. The programme will be delivered by many partners, including our national cultural institutions, History Ireland, local authorities, trade unions and third-level institutions. One highlight will be a pop-up museum named "100 years of Women in Politics and Public Life" looking at the key women who have contributed over the past 100 years to shaping the State, including the 114 women Deputies. The exhibition, curated by historian Sinéad McCoole, will be held in Dublin Castle from November and then travel to regional venues.

Today we reflect on the significant contribution women have made to our country over the last century. We also reflect, however, on the missed opportunities for women and society in the conservative State which came into being after independence. We have made much progress in this House to provide equal opportunities for all but we still have a way to travel. It is timely on the 100th anniversary of the extension of the franchise to women to redouble our efforts to provide those opportunities.

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