Female participation in local government
Ireland is ranked 22nd out of the EU 27 member states for the number of women in local government, with 259 councillors (27.3 per cent), and 99th in the world regarding the number of women in national parliaments.
In the 2024 local elections, an all-time high of 681 women ran for local government, 31 per cent of all candidates with 245 being elected. This is an increase of 46 candidates, from the 2019 high of 562.
While women being put forward as candidates in elections and being elected are at all-time highs, there is still a large disproportion of women in government, with 44 women being elected in the 2024 general election, equating to 25 per cent of all TDs elected, despite women exceeding over 50 per cent of the population.
Across the main political parties in the 2024 local elections, Sinn Féin ran the most female candidates, running 148 female candidates out of a total 335, 44.2 per cent of all candidates in the party. Followed behind them was Fine Gael with 97 candidates (28.7 per cent), and in third Fianna Fáil with 90 candidates (24.6 per cent).
To balance the divide, and to get more women into politics, Minister of State for Planning and Local Government, John Cummins TD in November 2025 announced €174,517 in funding for See Her Elected (SHE).
SHE was founded in 2019 under an ethos of women having the skills, knowledge, and confidence to participate in local government. As of 2026, SHE has expanded to reach all constituencies in rural parts of the State, with its main aim being the retention of existing female councillors.
While efforts to increase female participation in politics continue, so does the continued offence of bullying and misogyny against female representatives.
The Hope and Courage Collective report, Dublin Central and Galway West byelection 2026: smears, harassment and threats to election integrity, published in May 2026, highlights that Sinn Féin’s Dublin Central candidate, Janice Boylan, and the Labour Party’s Galway West candidate Helen Ogbu, were both subjected to online harassment and intimidation during their campaigns.
In Galway West, Ogbu, who was first Black women to be elected to Galway City Council in 2024, was repeatedly targeted online which included “dehumanising racial slurs and repeated questioning of her legal right to be in Ireland,” while she was also the target of xenophobic abuse. The report says that while some content was framed as political criticism, much of the attacks were “intended to generate reputational pressure, fear, and social hostility”.
The report continues, commenting on the misogynistic comments and attacks made about Boylan, immediately after she announced her candidacy. Attacks against Boylan included “personal attacks and gendered slurs aimed at undermining her credibility,” with “integrity-based attacks with broader smear tactics”.
Executive Director of the Hope and Courage Collective, Edel McGinley says: “What we are seeing is not simply robust political debate or criticism of candidates. These are coordinated and harmful narratives designed to intimidate individuals, spread fear and undermine confidence in democratic participation”.
