Ireland is one of two member-states that did not include a woman delegate as required to the EU Parliamentary Assembly, writes Yvonne Galligan
Do our male parliamentarians want to share the work of representation with women? From their actions, the answer must surely be no. Indeed, going on their statements of last week, they don't regard women politicians as being up to the job of representing the country.
Let's remind ourselves of what brought about this outbreak of parliamentary male prejudice. In September 2003 the Council of Europe passed a resolution stating that for 2004 all national delegations to the Parliamentary Assembly must contain at least one woman. The assembly is made up of four parliamentarians from each of the 45 member-states. Their main task is to consider human rights and democracy issues across the member-states. An important part of this remit is to actively support women's participation in political and public life.
It is not surprising, then, that the Council of Europe should introduce a requirement for at least one woman among the four delegates from a member-state. After all, what is the point of being the flagship institution for human rights and democracy across Europe if it cannot put its own house in order? The sanction for all-male delegations was a suspension of their voting rights in the assembly. The message was, if you are not going to bring women along as part of your national team, you are not playing by the rules.
Guess what happened? Georgia, Azerbaijan, Macedonia and 40 other member-states registered at least one woman among their national representatives. Malta and Ireland did not. What is significant about this is how revealing it is about the cavalier attitude of male politicians towards women's political equality.
The Irish public deserves better from the men in Leinster House. Irish women deserve better. Our women parliamentarians certainly deserve better. As a country, we have signed many European treaties and international covenants committing ourselves to equal opportunities for women and men in political and public decision-making.
Ironically, our most recent commitment to such matters was in March 2003, when the Council of Europe's Council of Ministers (in effect the council's "cabinet") instructed all member-states to achieve a gender balance in political life. The recent embarrassing events show how cheap our politicians' words are. Especially when it comes to including women in politics.
Then, to add insult to injury, our male delegates tell us that women politicians would be unhappy to go to eastern Europe if their work in the Council of Europe called for it. This is a double insult: to the independence and capabilities of our women politicians, and to the citizens of central and eastern Europe. Let's lay a couple of myths to rest here. First, women politicians, local and national, are well able to take care of themselves when travelling abroad. They are professional representatives and act accordingly.
Second, women politicians are well used to travelling to unstable regions as election observers, as part of international fact-finding teams, and as invited conference speakers. A visit to Azerbaijan or Macedonia, for example, as a member of a Council of Europe committee would be just another part of the job of representing Ireland and contributing to political and public life at home and abroad.
Third, these countries are not full of dangerous men waiting to kill, kidnap or otherwise take advantage of our fair women politicians. In all of my professional travels to Council of Europe member-states, I have been received with a generous hospitality that would put our "cead míle faílte" to shame. Personal safety is not an issue.
I have encountered open minds, lively debates and a deeply sincere commitment to making democracy work for women as well as men. Irish women politicians would enjoy, and be enriched by, the experience of participating in Council of Europe activities, if they were given the opportunity.
There is a real issue hidden in all of this sorry mess. It is that we have few women in our national parliament. However, this is not enough justification to leave them out of delegations to international bodies such as the Council of Europe. Instead, it should be a matter for all parties, large and small, to act upon. The local and European elections will be a test of the willingness of men to share political life with women. It is likely the picture will remain largely the same - few women candidates, therefore few opportunities for women to get elected. Some parties will field all-male slates in the European elections. So, there's no point in male TDs bemoaning the dearth of women in the Dáil when they and their parties prevent women from getting a fair political chance in the first place.
It is time, once and for all, to stop implying that political women are incapable of representing Ireland in international forums. Better still, it is time for our male politicians to share the responsibilities of representation with their female colleagues. Let's have no more weak justifications for indefensible, undemocratic actions.