Gabrielle McFadden (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ireland was changed fundamentally on 14 December 1918 and it has seen many transformations in the 100 years since that day. One of the significant changes on the day was that women were allowed to vote for the first time and the other was that a woman was elected for the first time. What would those who fought for female suffrage think of present-day Ireland?

I think they would be pleased about some aspects and not so much with others. They would see a very different country. The role of women has changed over that 100 years and there have been huge improvements of the involvement of women in law, medicine, education and commerce and many other areas that used to be male dominated.

The report from the World Economic Forum shows that there is parity between the genders in Ireland in areas of educational attainment. The health and survival index shows that only a small gap remains to be made up by women. When we look at the economic participation and opportunity index, however, a more significant gap is apparent and we rank 65th in the world. While the participation of women in politics is improving, as Senator Bacik has said, there is still quite a bit of ground to make up. In the 2016 general election, 123 men were elected. In the full 100 years since women gained the right to stand for election, there have only ever been 114 women TDs.

However, the biggest problem that faced women in 1918 remains their biggest problem today, namely, that one in four women will experience physical or sexual violence from a partner and one in three experiences severe psychological abuse. Domestic sexual and gender-based violence are crimes that occur in all social classes among people of every background, from all ethnic groups and cultures, and are violations of human rights. They are crimes perpetrated on women because they are women and have their foundations in gender inequality. If the suffragettes were here today with us, they would be at the forefront of the campaign for gender equality. They would be arguing loudly that we as a society should see gender equality not as a gift to be bestowed upon women by men but as a fundamental human right. This paradigm shift would be the finest tribute of all to those brave pioneers, and Ireland where these values were at the heart of all our actions would be the truest demonstration that their campaign was a success.