Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo the comments of Senator Kelleher regarding the Gate Theatre. It goes without saying that women’s suffrage was a defining moment in history for women and society as a whole. The hard-fought battle for the equal right to participate in our nation’s democracy should be celebrated, reflected on and used as a starting point for what should be a steady rate of progression. We are celebrating the starting point.

We are commemorating the Representation of the People Act 1918 which was passed by the British Parliament while Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom. The section relevant to women’s suffrage is section 43, which relates to franchises. It states that a woman who was not subject to any legal incapacity was entitled to be registered as a parliamentary elector for a constituency - other than a university constituency - if she had attained the age of 30 years, and if either she or her husband was on the last day of the qualifying period occupying as owner or tenant any land or premises in the constituency. A woman over the age of 30 who did not own property or was not married to a man who did, or did not have a university degree, would not, therefore, be able to vote. That was not rectified until the Equal Franchise Act 1928, which allowed all women above the age of 21 to vote, regardless of property ownership. Prior to that, poor, young, uneducated or unmarried women had been excluded.

When we reflect on how much has been achieved over the past 100 years in respect of gender equality, it is striking how the current challenges to gender equality reflect the exclusions of the 1918 Act. Today, women still feel that exclusion. Historical, cultural and societal norms have ingrained in Ireland’s people the definition of what it means to be a woman. As stated in one of my favourite books, The Spirit Level, equality benefits us all. Why is that the case? Why is gender equality so important? Why have we not moved more towards a level of equality that is reflective of the diverse Ireland in which we live? Just as I would have been excluded in 1918 from having a say in regard to my country, I believe that true democracy will be achieved not when we reach 50:50 representation in the Houses of Oireachtas but, rather, when we have equal participation in every sector of Irish society. We all may be equal in terms of being able to vote at the age of 18 but we have much to do in respect of creating the conditions whereby people from all walks of life use that vote and know they have the opportunity to be decision makers in their own communities.

Many women in communities in Ireland still feel the impact of the gender bias and sexism that is so embedded in cultures, economic life and many Irish institutions. Women and girls feel disenfranchised on a daily basis and still experience discrimination, gender violence, abuse and active exclusion from participation in many areas of Irish life. This, in turn, not only prevents women from being decision makers but from participating in voting, which is the most basic of democratic rights. When we look to 50:50 gender representation, we must consider those who make up that representation. We must create the space for women to feel included, empowered and valued in public life and we must have vibrant and diverse workplaces that are a picture of equal representation and embrace people of all ethnicities, races and backgrounds.

Women also play a huge role in creating sustainable communities and societies and a sustainable planet. Gender equality is a key factor in sustainable development and forms the basis of sustainable development goal 5, to which Ireland signed up and contributed to the drafting of. The empowerment and support of women and how that relates to sustainable development is of great importance. I recently read a collection of essays entitled Why Women Will Save the Planetin which it is argued that interconnections between women’s empowerment and sustainability must be fully reflected not only in programmes on the ground but also within our own organisations by working across sectors and disciplines.

I wish to finish by quoting Dorothy Day. I do not often quote Catholic social drivers but she has plenty of good quotes to reference. She wrote:

People say, what is the sense of our small efforts? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time. A pebble cast into a pond causes ripples that spread in all directions. Each one of our thoughts, words and deeds is like that. No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There is too much work to do.