Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister on her appointment. As the spokesperson for the arts in Sinn Féin, I look forward to working with her. On that point, I received an email from a member of these Houses yesterday that said "spokesman". If we could do one thing today, please do not be too specific in how we identify the roles of spokespeople. There is no point in calling oneself a spokesman if that implies to a young girl that role is meant for a man.

This is a chance to reflect on the gender diversity of our institutions. There are many other things but in under five minutes I will not do much more. As has been mentioned, women's suffrage did not bring about women's equality nor have we achieved equality a century later.Marriage equality here did not achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, LGBT, equality and civil rights in the North did not end sectarianism. As we consider the next steps for gender equality, one of the most immediate must be the removal of the eighth amendment.

The struggle for equal gender representation in the Oireachtas is ongoing. That under-representation has led to a history of politics being dominated by men and run from a male perspective. Many women in these Houses of the Oireachtas have gone on record noting that they can be a hostile environment. In my short time here I have seen personal examples of Members making throwaway comments and offhand remarks. Perhaps they do not realise the gravity of such remarks, the environment they are contributing to, the presumptions they are making or that they are making the Parliament an unwelcome place. We cannot uphold any level of leadership without getting our own house in order first.

Previous generations of politicians upheld the subjugation of women, be it through the mother and baby homes, the Magdalen laundries or mental institutions. We criminalised women through marginalisation, the denial of basic rights to contraception and so on. We had a rape culture that censored women and denied them security of the law, the police and the courts and sought to suppress the undauntable and resolute who spoke out.

The former Minister, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, has been mentioned a great deal this week. The year after I was born, she decriminalised homosexuality. She stated:

Someone once said that statistics are people - with the tears wiped off. When, in 1993 as minister for justice, I decided to decriminalise homosexuality, I did so because I met people, rather than statistics. Women with the tears unwiped. Mothers of gay sons, terrified that their children might fall foul of a law that characterised their sexuality as against the interests of the State

It took a woman to understand. It took the mothers of gay sons to make that change. There are parallels there in terms of any chance a raped gay man had of reporting that crime. It is not a discussion for today but the marriage referendum and the repeal of the eighth amendment are intrinsically linked.

I will move on as I am aware that other Civil Engagement Members wish to speak. The struggle for equal representation in the Oireachtas is ongoing. I mentioned the repeal of the eighth amendment. The activists of that movement will march tomorrow evening for International Women's Day. Their demands are simple. They do not want Bunreacht na hÉireann holding any level of agency over their bodies or their lives. I commend their bravery. The suffragettes were described by Rita O'Hare as extraordinary women who came from every class, creed and background, from rural communities and from this city. She said they rejected the confines of class and the comforts of privilege to join a national women's movement - the labour movement. Her description of the suffragettes resonates today and if I could do anything else it would be to plead with the men in my life and the men in our society to join with them and demand their agency.