Longford local election candidate highlights ‘bullying and harassment' of women as an issue

Two female candidates in the recent local elections spoke to the Leader about their experiences.

There will be two female councillors in the new council (Peggy Nolan (FG) and Uruemu Adejinmi (FF), who were both part of the outgoing council.

The poll toppers in the three Longford municipal districts were men.

Six female candidates ran in Longford MD. While two were returned to the council, the others did not make a significant impact.

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Fianna Fáil candidate in Granard MD, Susan Murphy, stated that she was both “disappointed and happy” despite losing out in a seat on the council.

The Dromard woman polled 434 first preferences as a first time candidate.

“I am happy with the volume of people who did vote for me. I have to be grateful for the people who made the effort to engage with me,” she stated.

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“I am disappointed that I did not get elected, in order to represent those people,” Susan added.

Stating that she “polled well” outside of her own parish, she had no hesitation when asked if she would run again.

“I would run again. I have been involved in politics since I was aged 16 or 17. I feel strongly about female representation,” she explained.

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She went on to speak frankly about some of the challenges that face female candidates.

“The reality is that you cannot do anything at home for the weeks that you are campaigning. That can be extremely difficult,” she said.

“However, I was meeting people on the doorsteps who were encouraging towards me,” Susan added.

Susan points out that the other female candidate in Granard MD, Marett Smith (also FF) and herself polled only 9% between them.

“There was a massive difference in what Marett and myself polled and what the male candidates got,” she reflected. Susan accepted that women do not predominantly vote for female candidates.

“I think that a lot of my voters were male,” she said.

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She feels that her experience canvassing was a positive one overall. “I met many positive people, with one or two negative people overall. However, they didn’t mar my campaign,” she stated.

There has been a renewed call in some quarters for gender quotas, following the results of the Local Elections nationally.

However, Susan does not agree. “Becoming successful in something should be based on your qualifications and abilities, not on your gender. As women, if we are looking for equality, it should be based on merit,” she stated.

Meanwhile, one of the unsuccessful female candidates in Longford MD, Sadia Athar, also gave their reaction to the Leader in relation to the campaign.

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“I am happy with the number of votes I received before elimination as a first time candidate,” she stated.

“However, I was expecting more than what I received in first preferences. But I am so grateful to people who voted for me. I am satisfied with the result and hoping for the best next time,” Sadia added.

Like Susan Murphy she referenced the particular challenges faced by female candidates.

“I think that female candidates struggled in the local elections as sometimes they had different kinds of challenges and barriers to overcome, which leads to difficulties in terms of resources, mindset, and social norms,” she commented.

“But I feel that people's perspective is changing towards women in leadership and politics,” she continued.

Sadia went on to claim that bullying of women in politics is an issue.

“There is a lot of bullying and harassment towards women and this is one of the biggest reasons why women struggle to run as candidates for political office,” she commented.

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However, Sadia does think that women do vote for female candidates.

“I believe that most of my voters were women and I am so thankful to them and proud of them,” she explained.

In relation to the issue of gender quotas, Sadia is in favour of them. “In my opinion, there is no bar for women to enter into politics as independent candidates. I think that parties should introduce a gender quota while nominating candidates,” she stated.

Sadia engaged with the See Her Elected group, which works at getting more women into politics. She found it a very positive experience.

“Oh, it was amazing, quite encouraging. I have learned so much about different areas of politics, especially local politics, about the process and procedures. But ultimately the real knowledge is gained when you actually go through the process. But my engagement with the See Her Elected group helped me a lot during my election campaign,” she explained.

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