Independent senator Katherine Zappone has criticised Government inaction on gay marriage and questioned if incoming gender quotas for general election candidates will work.
Dr Zappone was addressing the Parnell Summer School this morning. She told the gathering how she had taken part in Sunday’s march in support of gay marriage in Dublin.
“It was both an emotional and exhilarating experience . . . wondering why should it take so long in 21st century Ireland for the law to recognise my human right to be free to marry the person I have chosen to love, forever? Further wondering what it takes to bring about such significant social change in our parliamentary democracy?”
Dr Zappone was accompanied on the march by her “life-partner and spouse” Ann Louise Gilligan. The pair married in Canada. Referring to the United Nation’s forthcoming review of the State’s human rights record, Dr Zappone said she would not give Ireland “full marks”. She said she could identify “significant gaps in human rights protection”.
She described as “a step forward” the Government’s plan to implement legislation involving a 30 per cent gender quota for general election candidates, or else face severe financial penalties. State funding for parties will be cut by half unless at least 30 per cent of the candidates they put forward are women.
“This is, no doubt, a step forward, but will it put a major dent in the deeply embedded patriarchal social structures existing in Ireland today? And how will the Government ensure that the 30 per cent target translates into meaningful rather than tokenistic opportunities and that the necessary range of supports accompany legislative change?” she asked.
Dr Zappone said the legislative change should also apply to local government elections and be implemented in time for the 2014 local elections.
She also called for the facilitation of greater political participation of people from minority social backgrounds. “How many coloured faces do we see in the Oireachtas? Compare that figure with how many we see in the classrooms throughout Ireland today.”
The Government had indicated its commitment to political reform and had begun to take some important steps towards “this significant objective,” Dr Zappone said.
On October 6th, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter will lead an Irish delegation to Geneva, where he will present a report to the 48 members of the UN Human Rights Council. Council members will then make recommendations to Ireland to improve its human rights record.
Earlier this week Dr Maurice Manning, president of the Irish Human Rights Commission, predicted Ireland would “do well” in the UN’s review of the State’s human rights record.
