Adrian Kavanagh, 30th October 2013 – post updated as and when new female candidates are added/female candidates withdraw

314 female candidates contested the 2009 City and County Council elections, accounting for 17.2% of the total number of candidates. For the 2014 elections, given the impending introduction of gender quotas at the next general election and given the likely impact of larger constituency units (with more seats per constituency), the expectation was that more female candidates would be contesting these elections. This has turned out to be the case, but could the improved levels of female candidacies be really viewed as a dramatic improvement? This post will list all the names of the female candidates who have been officially selected to contest the 2014 Local Elections by the different political parties and groupings, as well as the independent female candidates who have declared their intention to contest these elections.

Based on the list of candidates below, there are four hundred and forty officially selected/declared female candidates (out of a total of two thousand and thirty eight candidates), with female candidates currently accounting for 21.6% of the total number of candidates selected/declared that I have accounted for to date. This number includes two candidates – Sharon Keogan and Angela Maher – who are contesting two different electoral areas.

There is a notable geographical dimension here, as – to date – female candidates are accounting for 25.8% of candidates in the urban electoral areas, but just 18.3% of the total number of candidates in the more rural constituencies. Female candidates account for 30.4% of the total number of candidates in the Dublin region, as against levels of 19.2% in Leinster, 19.7% in Munster and 19.2% in Connacht-Ulster.

Across the different political party/grouping pages on this site I have listed/accounted for:

• 106 female Fine Gael candidates – 22.6% of the total number
• 71 female Fianna Fail candidates – 17.1% of the total number
• 55 female Labour Party candidates – 29.1% of the total number
• 62 female Sinn Fein candidates – 31.6% of the total number
• 15 female Green Party candidates – 32.6% of the total number
• 12 female Anti Austerity Alliance candidates – 30.0% of the total number
• 17 female People Before Profit candidates – 38.6% of the total number
• 2 female Workers and Unemployed Action Group candidates – 66.7% of the total number.6
• 1 female Eirigi candidate – 16.7% of the total number
• 1 female United Left candidate – 16.7% of the total number
• 4 female Fís Nua  candidates – 66.7% of the total number
• 1 female Workers Party candidate – 11.1% of the total number
• 2 female Direct Democracy Ireland candidates – 10.5% of the total number
• 91 female non-party/independent candidates – 15.6% of the total number. Within this grouping there are 3 The Independents Network candidates (10.0% of the total) and 4 female People’s Convention candidates/People’s Candidates (18.2% of the total number).

The electoral areas with the largest numbers of female candidates at present are

• Dun Laoghaire with ten candidates
• Ballymun and Mulhuddart with eight female candidates,
• Ballincollig-Carrigaline, Blackrock, Crumlin-Kimmage, Pembroke-South Dock, Clonmel and Sligo with seven candidates,
• East Cork, Tramore-Waterford City West, Dundrum, Rathfarnham and Greystones with six candidates,
• Ennis, Limerick City East, Carlow, Portlaoise, Kildare-Newbridge, Mullingar-Coole, Ashbourne, Cavan-Belturbet, Lucan, Tuam, West Mayo, Castleknock, North Inner City and Rathgar-Rathmines with five candidates,
• Shannon, Dungarvan-Lismore, Listowel, Tralee, Galway City East, Athenry-Oranmore, Boyle, Howth-Malahide, Balbriggan, Tallaght Central, Longford, Glencullen-Sandyford, Killiney-Shankill, Stillorgan, Ballybay-Clones, Maynooth, Mulingar-Kilbeggan, Ratoath, Laytown-Bettystown, Dundalk South, Wexford and Bray with four female candidates.

The electoral area with the highest percentage of female election candidates is the Blackrock electoral area, with females accounting for 7 out of the 11 candidates contesting that constituency (63.6%). The Rathfarnham electoral area is the only other electoral area to have more female than male election candidates, with females accounting for 6 of the 11 candidates contesting that electoral area (54.5%). Other electoral areas associated with relatively high levels of female candidacies include Dún Laoghaire (47.6%), Mulhuddart (47.1%), East Cork and Greystones (both 42.9%) and Ballybay-Clones, Ballymun and Stillorgan (all 40.0%).

In all, fifty of the one hundred and thirty seven (36.5%) electoral areas at present have four, or more, female candidates selected/declared to run in these.

Based on the list below, five of the one hundred and thirty seven (3.6%) electoral areas have no female candidates. These electoral areas are the Muinebeag, Ballinasloe, Newcastlewest, Athlone (Roscommon) and Athlone (Westmeath) electoral areas. By contrast twenty seven of the one hundred and seventy one electoral areas (15.8%) at the 2009 City and County Council elections had no female candidates contesting them. These electoral areas were the Muinebeag, Ennis East, Killaloe, Blarney, Macroom, Skibbereen, Cork City North East, Cork City North West, Athy, Naas, Callan, Borris in Ossory, Rathkeale, Limerick City East, Drumlish, Drogheda West, Claremorris, Carrickmacross, Castleblaney, Birr, Castlerea-Ballaghadereen, Ballymote, Coole, Kilbeggan, New Ross, Ballymun-Finglas and Donaghmede electoral areas. The female candidates, who have been officially selected/declared to context the 2014 Local Elections, to date include:

Figure 1: Number of female candidates selected by county/local authority area on the 31st January 2014

The map above shows the number of female candidates selected by county, or local authority area, in early 2o14 (or on the 31st January 2014 to be exact!). Not surprisingly, this map does somewhat reflect the different population levels (and, hence, overall local election candidate levels) in these counties, with the highest levels of female candidate selections being especially associated with the counties/local authorities in the Greater Dublin region, as shown by Figure 1. Figure 1 also points to some very low numbers of female candidate selections in some of the more rural counties, with Offaly especially standing out in this regard, as well as the electoral areas located within the

Figure 2: Percentage of female candidates selected by county/local authority area as of 31st January 2014

As the first map is heavily influenced by population size issues, the second maps shows female candidates as a percentage of the total number of candidates selected to date, again at the county or local authority area. Again, there is a notable urban bias evident in this map, with higher than average percentages of female candidates being associated with most of the more urban counties and with an especial cluster of higher levels being associated with the local authority areas located in Dublin and its immediate commuter hinterland. There are some exceptions to this trend however. The percentage of female candidates associated with the City Council areas (or former City Council areas) located outside of Dublin tend to be lower than the national average. Indeed, the level of female candidate selections for Galway City was dwarfed somewhat by the higher level associated with neighbouring Galway County, although the inclusion of Labour and Sinn Fein selections during February has resulted in the level in Galway City overtaking that of Galway County. Figure 2 shows that some of the more rural counties are characterised by high proportions of female candidate selections – to date it should be noted – including counties such as Cavan and Tipperary South Riding. That being said, some of the lowest levels of female candidates selections – to date – are to be found in rural counties, with Figure 2 pointing to especially low levels in Clare, Kerry, Kilkenny, Limerick County and Tipperary North Riding. This is by no means an exhaustive list, as less than a half of the total number of 2014 Local Elections candidates have been selected to date. Further female candidate selections/declarations will be added to this page right up until the closing date for local election candidate nominations.

Figure 3: Change in percentage of female candidates selected by county/local authority between the 2014 (as of 31st January 2014) and 2009 contests.

Figure 3 above measures the geographical trends in terms of changing female candidate selection levels by local authority level between the 2009 and 2014 (as of 31st January) contests. With the number of female candidates selected at this point in time being exactly the same as the total number selected in the previous contest of 2009, it is worth looking at where the major increases in female candidate selections are occurring. As Figure 3 shows, the most concentrated levels of increase tend to be associated with Dublin and its wider commuter hinterland, although Tipperary South Riding, Longford and Galway County have also experienced a significant degree of increase, as shown above. Not all counties have seen female candidate levels increasing, however, as the map above shows, with Kilkenny experiencing the most notable level of decline just ahead of Kerry and Limerick County.

Figure 4: Female seat levels (in percentage terms) by local authority level at the 2009 City and County Council elections

It is worth contrasting female candidate selection levels for 2014 (so far) with the geography of female representation after the 2009 contest. Figure 4 shows that the highest levels of female representation at the 2009 contest were associated with Dublin and the neighbouring county of Meath, reflecting the trends seen so far in terms of 2014 candidate selection, but high levels were also associated with Kilkenny County, a county that has seen very low levels of female candidate selection for the 2014 Local Elections (so far). The two counties with the lowest level of female seat levels at the 2009 contest were Clare and Wicklow. Female candidate selection levels in Clare have also been at a similarly low level so far for the 2014 contest, but levels have increased to a significant degree in Wicklow, by contrast.