Women, Community and Politics in Northern Ireland
by Grainne McCoy
In the political parties, a similar pyramid of power can be discerned. Among the party rank and file there are large numbers of women, but their proportion decreases further up the hierarchy.
Some larger political parties have, slowly, responded to pressure from women among their members and voters to improve the representation of women in their leadership structures. The nationalist Social-Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Sinn Fein both have quotas for women on policy-making bodies and women's sections. The SDLP has 3 women among its 24 Assembly members, while Sinn Fein has 5 women in the Assembly out of a total of 18 members. The cross-community Alliance party puts forward quite large numbers of women candidates; 1 of its 6 Assembly seats is held by a woman. In the largest of Northern Ireland's parties, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), 42 per cent of members are women. The UUP has had a women's council since 1911, and more recently has created a women's policy committee (Wilford and Galligan 1999:170). Only 2 of its 28 assembly members, however, are women; it has a poor record of putting women forward for election, as has the Democratic Unionist Party, which has 1 woman assembly member out of 20. On the whole, the nationalist parties are better at selecting women.
Since the closing down of the Stormont parliament, the local parties have had less influence over policy-making and administration, concentrating most of their attention on the 'constitutional future of Northern Ireland'. While they are represented on public bodies, and have access to civil servants in the NICS, and NIO and of course in European institutions, direct rule has brought about a situation in which ministers and civil servants can bypass the political parties. Business leaders, academics, trade union leaders and, on occasions, people with a record of pressure group activism or community politics are consulted about policy initiatives. Northern Ireland is a very small place, where it is relatively easy for people from government to have a wide range of contacts. There are opportunities for women, including some with a background in feminist campaigning, to make representations and have some influence, as Davies (1991:164) observed. Women's access to policy-making has been promoted and encouraged by the Equal Opportunities Commission for Northern Ireland (EOCNI). This was created in 1976 and has been exceptionally forceful and effective (Sales 1997) in campaigning for women's inclusion in decision-making at
every level in Northern Ireland (2). It would be inaccurate, nevertheless, to suggest that the policy-making structures of direct rule are regarded as ideal by women in Northern Ireland. Access for the majority of women (and other excluded groups) is very constrained (Cockburn 1998:58) and many feel that the processes lack transparency. Women's groups are also worried, however, by the prospect the devolved government would restore responsibility for policy-making to the local political parties, with their strong focus on sovereignty and their poor record in promoting women's inclusion.
NOTES
(1) The power sharing Executive created by this Assembly took part in a Conference at Sunningdale in Berkshire in December 1973. At the Conference a Council of Ireland, unwelcome to many unionists, was created. There was also a considerable loyalist opposition to and suspicion about power sharing. After many serious protests, including a major strike, the plan was abandoned. See Flackes and Elliott (1994).
(2) In 1998, against opposition from women's groups and forums, NIO decided
to create a new Equalities Commission which will have responsibility for
ensuring that legislation outlawing discrimination on the grounds of religion,
sex, race and disability will be effective. There have been concerns that
this will lead to fewer resources being directed towards gender equality
issues. |
