Samenvatting

The title of this dissertation, “the Irish Legislative Gender Quota: Analysing Implementation & Outcome”, is specifically related to the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012, which requires political parties to field at least 30 percent candidates from the minority represented sex, with penalty for failure to comply resulting in a halving of state funding. Overall, given the difficulties observed during the 2016 general election campaign, and indeed now again in preparation for the next election, it is important to understand if these reforms are solely responsible for achieving increased female representation. Why difficulties during selection conventions are occurring, and how they can be best overcome. The main question is as follows: ‘Has the introduction of state mandated gender quotas for political party election candidates in the Republic of Ireland had the desired effects both in terms of implementation and ultimate outcome?’

In terms of the overall results, early successful upward trends in female political representation in Ireland (post the introduction of gender quotas) are acknowledged, however the premature nature of such observations is also addressed, outlining a number of unique variables which will be expanded upon in more detail throughout. Moreover, although some had hoped for greater female parliamentarian numbers resulting from the 2016 general election, the comparatively higher rate of female candidates does at least offer the hope that a significant surge in female representation may occur sooner than expected, given both a heightening in the public profile of former unelected female candidates, and an increasingly competitive political landscape. Report recommendations primarily focus upon the need for greater management and communication strategies in terms of how respective parties reach the 30 percent gender quota, with particular attention given to the use of gender directives during candidate selection conventions.

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