‘Cosy boys’ club’: anger over low proportion of women in Irish cabinet Social Democrat MP criticises gender imbalance as number of women falls to three under new PM Micheál Martin.
The number of women in the Irish cabinet has fallen from four to three, dealing a further blow to the country’s reputation on gender equality in politics.
Of the 174 seats up for grabs in November’s election, 44 went to women, amounting to a representation of slightly more than 25%, compared with the western European average of 37% and a figure of 32% for the continent as a whole.
Whitmore said: “Instead of working to address that [imbalance] by promoting talented women from within their own ranks, the government parties have reverted to type – creating a cosy boys’ club.”.
Martin, who leads the Fianna Fáil party, was formally appointed on Thursday for his second stint as prime minister, having served in the role between 2020 and 2022.
