Back in 2012, Fine Gael general secretary Tom Curran predicted the introduction of a rule – that 30 per cent of election candidates run by political parties must be women – would lead to “blood on the floor” at selection conventions.
While a mark of 30 per cent would fail most exams, Curran and crew, and their opposite numbers in Fianna Fáil in particular, would likely admit that hitting the modest target has been challenging.
Efforts to finalise party tickets have been littered with constituency spats, and in some cases female candidates were added by party HQ to make up the numbers.
Even if some noses are out of joint at local level, there are now more women than ever seeking a Dáil seat, and they, like every other candidate, realise there is little point in taking part if you don’t believe you can win.
Lorraine Clifford-Lee, canvassing on Wednesday in the Mourne View estate in Skerries, Co Dublin, is firmly of that view. “You can’t go in into it not believing,” she says.
Clifford-Lee joined Senator Darragh O’Brien on the Fianna Fáil ticket in Dublin Fingal. O’Brien, a TD from 2007 to 2011, is seen as the party’s best chance of regaining a Dáil seat in Dublin after its post-bailout electoral meltdown in 2011.
Clifford-Lee’s canvass goes well. She engages well on the doors and directs discussion towards her main selling points. Discussions about childcare, pensions, medical cards and prescription charges lead to solid commitments of first-preference votes.
She acknowledges winning a seat is a big ask, but she believe she will do well.
Big challenge
“I knew it was a big challenge, it’s a big constituency, and luckily I have support from friends who have come in to help me. They’re very experienced. But I did wonder if I would get any support from the local organisation.”
And has she?
“I’ve got a bit of support, yeah. Some people from the local organisation have helped me.”
As much as she hoped for?
“We’ll leave it at that. Sometimes smaller teams are more agile, and just because I don’t have big vans and trucks going around the constituency doesn’t mean you’re not being as effective.”
Canvassing in her hometown of Dunlavin in rural west Wicklow, Avril Cronin, added to the Fine Gael ticket in December, also says she is in with a shout.
She is standing with outgoing TDs Andrew Doyle and Minister of State Simon Harris, and is competing with Billy Timmins, who left Fine Gael to join Renua, in his west Wicklow heartland where a Timmins has held a seat since 1968.
Cronin’s pitch is that she is a young first-time candidate, and some voters on the canvass say that a Timmins has been representing west Wicklow for too long.
Pre-election promises
Tom Grace, a farmer and publican, tells her he believes Fine Gael has done a good job and that a recovery is taking hold. However, he says he is concerned about the pre-election promises made by the party. He half hints of a vote but is non-committal.
“I wouldn’t say I am a total outsider,” says Cronin. “Andrew and Simon are very well established but they’re in different areas of the county.
“It is going well, obviously this is my hometown. People would know me in Dunlavin but in the wider west Wicklow area people wouldn’t know me.”
While Cronin says “obviously I am female”, she says Fine Gael always ran a candidate in west Wicklow.
She says the campaign has its ups and its downs, but says a weekend visit to Dunlavin by Enda Kenny was a great boost.
“This isn’t going to be the last of me if it doesn’t work out. This is the start of it for me.”
