Madam, – May I reassure Anna Karin Kingston (October 13th) that my book, Mother Ireland, does indeed address the need for more mothers in the Dáil. However, without a change in focus away from competitive growth and towards sustainability on the part not just of this country, but also in the wider world economy, a TD’s working hours will be inimical to family life and unattractive to many mothers of young children.
In the short term, some changes could be made. If caring were valued, then years spent caring for children would be seen as a useful background for a prospective politician. If we were less ageist, mothers who have raised their children might make a strong contribution to the Dáil. Finally, Dáil or Seanad reform might include a way of giving a voice to people not currently considered “productive” in the economy, which would include representatives of parents in the home, the elderly, the disabled and the unemployed, who might then transform our idea of what being “productive” is. – Yours, etc,