O’Reilly criticises new “boys club” government

Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly has criticised what she calls the new “boys club” government.

With news that just three of the senior Cabinet positions will be filled by women (a stat which led to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore to remark there are as many men named James in Cabinet as there are women), O’Reilly has criticised the make-up of the new government.

“After the deserved backlash against jobs for the boys, the women of Ireland might have at least expected better representation when the lads named their bloated team of junior ministers,” O’Reilly said.

Of the new swathe of junior ministers, six of the 23 are women.

With 38 ministers in Ireland’s new government, nine are women, a percentage of 23.6%.

Brian Sheehan of Women For Election said, “women make up half the population, yet their voices and lived experience are absent from essential political and government decision-making roles, especially at Cabinet.”

“There has never been more than four women at any one time in the 15-member Cabinet in the history of the State,” they noted.

“The opportunity was there for Micheál Martin and Simon Harris to have gender balance in government, but the boys’ club chose not to,” O’Reilly remarked.

“Fianna Fáil under Micheál Martin in particular appears to have a problem promoting women, with just four women – one senior and three junior – holding ministerial positions.”

O’Reilly was named Sinn Féin’s new spokesperson for social protection as well as rural and community development this week as party leader Mary Lou McDonald slightly reshuffled the Sinn Féin deck.

In Sinn Féin’s new 17-team frontbench, seven of the positions are filled by women, a percentage of 41.1%.

Party heavyweights Eoin Ó’Broin and Pearse Doherty will remain on the housing and finance briefs respectively, while O’Reilly has moved from enterprise to social protection.

O’Reilly previously served as the party spokesperson on health.

O’Reilly’s counterpart in the government will be Fianna Fáil’s Dara Calleary who was named as the new minister for social protection in January.

“The question needs to be asked of Micheál Martin and Fianna Fáil, either they have so few women of talent capable of holding ministerial office, or they do in fact have women of talent but have a party leader holding them back; which one is it?”

Announcing Sinn Féin’s frontbench for the new Dáil term, party leader Mary Lou McDonald said “we will go toe to toe with this government from day one.”

“We will stand up for working people and fight their corner. We will hold this government to account at every turn, call out every bad policy, every dodgy decision, every failure.”