See Her Elected
The overall aim of the SHE Project is to empower women in the rural constituencies of the North West and Midlands to engage in electoral politics.
Despite increases in the numbers of female TDs and Councillors following recent elections, 78% of TDs and 76% of councillors are still male. What is noteworthy is that the increases gained have been mainly in urban constituencies. The 2019 Local Elections saw women gain 48% of the seats on Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. In contrast, women’s representation on Longford County Council reduced to 5%, Mayo County Council to 6% and Donegal County Council to 11%. Such disparity in women’s representation within urban and rural constituencies was a key factor in the establishment of the SHE Project.
The SHE Project is a collaboration between the Women’s Manifesto Project (a Longford Women’s Link programme) and 50:50 North West, organisations with strong links at grassroots level. A unique project, it is ‘ploughing new furrows’ in developing an innovative rural strategy to ensure women from our rural constituencies gain their rightful place on our councils and in Dáil Eireann.