Has Michael Lowry made the case for gender quotas?

It was hardly his intention but Independent TD Michael Lowry may have unwittingly made the case for gender quotas in Irish politics.
 

The former Fine Gael Government minister has spent the past few decades embroiled in controversy. Not that it has affected his popularity – Mick can seemingly do no wrong with the good people of Tipperary North who must see something in him that eludes us ignorant Dublin Jackeens.

Lowry was back in the headlines this week for all the wrong reasons when he passed the Taoiseach a note in the Dáil seeking the reappointment of a former PR advisor to the board of the National Roads Authority – a grubby little gesture in itself that led to accusations of cronyism. But the fact that the note was infused with such nod-nod, wink-wink ‘sexist’ language made it worse.

STUNNER: A not bad looking Michael Lowry pictured in the 1990s. PHOTO: DUBLIN PEOPLE FILES

Lowry’s flippant comment that the woman – who by all accounts is an intelligent and capable candidate for the position – was "not bad looking either” could have come straight from the lovely girls’ contest in ‘Father Ted’. An unrepentant Lowry denied accusations of cronyism and sexism. His remarks, he said, were “unnecessary and light-hearted”.

Naturally, it’s all the fault of the politically correct media. Can’t a politician compliment a woman on a nice dress or a pair of shoes?

Lowry is not the only TD to have been accused of sexism in politics. Padraig Flynn damaged Brian Lenihan’s Presidential election campaign in 1990 by making unfortunate comments about Mary Robinson’s “new-found emphasis on her family”.

The late Taoiseach Albert Reynolds didn’t cover himself in glory either with his “that’s women for you” put down of Nora Owen in the Dáil in the early ‘90s.

There are more recent examples, too. It wasn’t so long ago that Mick Wallace landed himself in trouble with mna na hEireann when he was overheard referring to Fine Gael TD Mary Mitchell O’Connor as “Miss Piggy”, leading to much sniggering at the back of the classroom from his buddies in the manner of Beavis and Butthead.

We also had the embarrassing spectacle of Fine Gael TD Tom Barry pulling a female colleague, Áine Collins, onto his lap during a late night Dáil debate on abortion in 2013.

Even that champion of equality, Senator David Norris, came under fire for using inappropriate language when he accused Fine Gael’s Regina Doherty of “speaking out of her fanny”.

Despite there being a handful of women in senior Government positions - such as Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and Tánaiste Joan Burton - the fact remains that Irish politics is still largely a boys’ club dominated by a macho culture. 

It would be a pity if women were deterred from entering political life because of the behaviour of a minority of TDs as they can make a valuable contribution. Whether you agree with her or not, Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald is one of the best performers in the Dáil. And rising star Averil Power brings some much-needed energy to the Seanad, not to mention Fianna Fáil.

Michael Lowry may only have been speaking for himself but it was a telling insight into how women are still often judged on their looks rather than (or in addition to) their abilities.

In the next general election, at least 30 per cent of candidates will have to be women or parties will face State funding cuts. It remains up to the electorate to decide if the imbalance should be redressed in the next Dáil. While there is still an argument for voting for candidates on the basis of their credentials rather than their gender, there will be some formidable women on the ballot paper who will deserve to be elected on merit alone. 

The Dáil should be an inclusive workplace for women, not some political version of Jurassic Park where species we once thought were extinct still roam free.