Representation In Ireland Research Articles

Resituating Henrician Ireland: imperium, prophecy and Reformation between the Atlantic and Eurasian worlds, 1514–47

Abstract An intellectual-cultural history of sovereignty in Henrician Ireland, this article mines government writings and printed pamphlets to argue for Ireland’s integration within the dynastic strife, spiritual controversies and imperial ambitions that bridged the ‘New World’, the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean in the early Reformation. Its conclusions are twofold: that the Henrician Reformation galvanized the political theologies of interfaith representation in Ireland, and that the island felt the weight of European Atlantic colonialism earlier than has hitherto been appreciated. The article suggests the need to reconsider Henrician Ireland in its entanglements with the political-theological Reformation worlds of inter-imperial rivalry.

Fixed-Boundary Constituencies and the Principle of Equal Representation in Ireland

The process of constituency boundary revision in Ireland, designed to satisfy what is perceived as a rigid requirement that a uniform deputy-population ratio be maintained across constituencies, has traditionally consumed a great deal of the time of politicians and officials. For almost two decades after a High Court ruling in 1961, the process was a political one, was highly contentious, and was marked by serious allegations of ministerial gerrymandering. The introduction in 1979 of constituency commissions made up of officials neutralised, for the most part, charges that the system had become too politicised, but it continued the process of micro-management of constituency boundaries. This article suggests that the continuing problems caused by this system – notably, the permanently changing nature of constituency boundaries and resulting difficulties of geographical identification – could be resolved by reversion to the procedure that is normal in proportional representation systems: periodic post-census allocation of seats to constituencies whose boundaries are based on those of recognised local government units and which are stable over time. This reform, replacing the principle of redistricting by the principle of reapportionment, would result in more recognisable constituencies, more predictable boundary trajectories over time, and a more efficient, fairer, and speedier process of revision.

Republicans and Widows: Women's Political Participation and Representation in Ireland, 1918-1973

This paper examines the gendering of the early Irish party system and women’s political roles during the first fifty years of Irish independence. McNamara and Mooney (2000) identify two phases of women’s participation over this period: ‘Republican Women’ and a ‘Vote for the Widow’. The research draws on these themes but offers a more extensive and critical analysis of women’s participation as party members, candidates and representatives until the 1970s, when spaces for female descriptive representation began to open up. Older institutions carry on the gendered practices associated with their establishment. Norms around gender roles ‘stick’ and prove difficult to shift, even in modernising societies. Thus, to fully understand women’s continued underrepresentation in Irish politics, we must appreciate the wider gendered histories of party organisations and political institutions (Galligan & Wilford, 1999; McGing, 2014).The paper has a number of sections. First, the role of women in Ireland’s suffragist and nationalist campaigns is examined and the tensions that would emerge between the two, often overlapping movements, analysed. The second section looks at the gendered establishment of the Irish Free State. It finds that though women had come to expect a place at the table for state-building, they found themselves virtually excluded from public life. The 1920s and 1930s were a conservative period in Ireland and women’s citizenship rights suffered a roll-back. As the third section shows, the consequences of this gender regime were seen for half a century as female seat-holding in the Dail remained in single digits. Of the small numbers of women TDs elected up until the 1970s, there was a near-persistent pattern in their routes to office – most were relatives of deceased male TDs, mainly widows. Reflecting the now-entrenched disposition towards men in power, women relied on their connections to well-known local males to be elected. This was also an era in which women’s activism in parties was mainly confined to supportive roles.

WILL LEGISLATIVE GENDER QUOTAS INCREASE FEMALE REPRESENTATION IN IRELAND? A FEMINIST INSTITUTIONALISM ANALYSIS

Informed by insights from feminist institutionalism, this article considers the effect of various aspects of the Irish political system on women's candidate selection and election, and discusses the extent to which the new gender quota law will be facilitated by these processes. In studying Ireland the article highlights a relatively under-studied case in the comparative literature on gender and politics. It also contributes to the burgeoning field of feminist institutionalism research by examining the mechanisms surrounding female candidate recruitment, selection and election to assess the likely impact of gender quotas on women's political representation in Ireland. Taking Ireland's relatively unique PR-STV electoral system as the primary institutional context, we argue that the electoral system interacts with cultural factors to determine female candidacy opportunities and suggest that the biggest challenge to the effective implementation of legislative gender quotas in Ireland are informal mechanisms such as masculinised party cultures, societal gendered legacies and pre-existing informal rules surrounding incumbency and localism. However, we advise if party leaders and selectorates are willing to fully embrace gender quotas and integrate them into their candidate nomination processes, there is evidence to suggest that this will have a positive effect on increasing women's political representation in Ireland.

The Single Transferable Vote and Women's Representation in Ireland

This article employs a largely feminist-institutional framework to explore the effects of the single transferable vote (STV) on women's representation in Ireland. Considering the 2011 elections, the research finds a ‘mismatch’ between formal and informal factors in influencing female candidacy and seat-holding in Dáil Éireann and the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly. While the workings of STV are mostly ‘women-friendly’, at least in comparison with a single-seat system, political parties well placed to win multiple constituency seats are slow to recruit female candidates in reasonable numbers. Conservative party norms, systems of party competition and voter preferences for incumbency all act to suppress the election of more women Teachtaí Dála and Members of the Legislative Assembly. The key to achieving a ‘critical mass’ across the island lies in reforming internal party selection processes to accommodate better equality between the sexes.

Gender and Electoral Representation in Ireland

This article reviews the historic and contemporary challenges to women’s electoral representation in Ireland. After summarizing the cultural and institutional obstacles to greater female representation, this article analyzes candidate selection, especially in relation to the 2011 Irish General Election, a process that appears to be the significant hurdle preventing more women from attaining elected office. It also discusses the proposed legislation that uses quotas to ensure the major political parties in Ireland nominate initially at least 30 per cent of their candidates to be women. It is hoped that this measure will redress the historic and chronic underrepresentation of women in Irish electoral politics.

THE POOR INQUIRY AND IRISH SOCIETY – A CONSENSUS THEORY OF TRUTH

ABSTRACTThe most detailed contemporary ethnographic representation of early nineteenth-century Ireland can be found in the reports produced by the Poor Inquiry of 1833–6. Despite their richness, however, these reports remained marginal to contemporary policy discussions and public debate. This is normally, and correctly, attributed to the unpopularity and impracticability of the specific recommendations of the Inquiry. This paper argues that the marginalisation of the reports was also due to their discursive originality. It focuses on the voluminous oral evidence which was collected and published by the Inquiry. This evidence was taken in public from large groups representing all social classes, and much of it was printed verbatim. This method was unique among state reports of the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom, and unusual in social discourse more generally. It emerged from an equally unusual conception of truth as social consensus, a theory which the Inquiry adopted in order to overcome what it saw as the socially fragmented nature of representation in Ireland.

Patriots and politics in Navan, 1753–5

The structure and nature of the electoral system in Hanoverian Ireland remains an under-explored aspect of Irish political history. A number of older works remain influential, partly because they have not been superseded by modern studies. Of these, Edward and Annie Porritt’sThe unreformed House of Commonsstands out. In a section on the parliamentary representation in Ireland, the Porritts examined the differences between the British and Irish systems, contrasting the more open and generally progressive British system to that of a closed and restricted Irish one, where the Protestant political elite maintained a firm grip on local power and preferment. While now superseded for England, the Porritts’ thesis remained -and to some extent remains - popular among Irish historians.

The Role of Stone in Neolithic Monumental Art: case studies and methods of representation in Ireland and Brittany

The Role of Stone in Neolithic Monumental Art: case studies and methods of representation in Ireland and Brittany

ROBERT COLE. Propaganda, Censorship and Irish Neutrality in the Second World War. (International Communications.) Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 2006. Pp. ix, 196. $85.00

Much analysis of Irish neutrality overlooks propaganda, but it was central to how Irish neutrality was depicted at home and abroad. Now, for the first time, a detailed and high-quality examination of American and British anti-neutrality propaganda efforts finally exists. Robert Cole's ably written and informative monograph will become a staple reference work for all engaged in researching Irish neutrality during World War II. He has produced a painstakingly researched and multifaceted examination of the interactions between Allied propaganda and Irish censorship in the heated “war of words” surrounding the legitimacy of neutrality. The propaganda conflicts regarding access to Irish bases and ports, partition, Axis espionage, Allied economic sanctions, and Axis diplomatic representation in Ireland are fully addressed. Cole's nuanced assessment of Allied information control and management is a vital complement to Donal Ó Drisceoil's Censorship in Ireland, 1939—1945: Neutralitiy, Politics, and Society (1996), which focuses primarily on the domestic context.

Why So Few Women in Dáil Éireann? The Effects of the Single Transferable Vote Election System

The results from the 2002 general election in Ireland provide a helpful startinj point for an analysis of the potential causes of the low level of female represen tation in D?il ?ireann. Many observers have focused on political culture as th< critical variable that explains women's historic low level of representation. Bu Ireland's electoral system, which allows for the single-transferable vote (STV) also has numerous effects on the outcomes of elections. Recent research ii other national settings, especially Australia, leads one to expect that STV woulc result in a relatively high number of women elected to Ireland's lower house; bu the number of women TDs elected since the founding of the Free State is sur prisingly small. This finding does not necessarily contradict the results o research in other states that use a similar electoral system. Instead, it indicate; that something beyond the mechanics of the electoral system accounts for th< relatively low number of women elected to the D?il. In examining the selection of new candidates, the perception that there ha; been no inherent need or advantage for a party to nominate more women can didates appears to be a crucial factor in accounting for the low number o women who have been elected. The recent decision by Fianna Fail at their 200^ Ard Fheis, or annual party convention, to nominate women to at least a third o their candidacies by 2014 is a significant move to increase female representatior in the long term, and it may well begin a process that will undermine histori? low levels of women's representation in Ireland. This decision represents < recognition that the Irish political system has been slow to change to incorpo rate more women into legislative positions. Fianna Fail's commitment no doub also reflects a response to the increased success of women candidates in othe: parties.

By‐elections to Dáil Éireann 1923–96: The anomaly that conforms

Abstract Ireland is the only country in Europe to combine a proportional representation electoral system with by‐elections as a means of filling casual vacancies. However, this is the only anomalous feature of Irish by‐elections; the pattern of results conforms closely to that observed in other countries. Turnout falls compared with the general election level, support for the government falls, support for minor parties rises, and the number of candidates is increasing over time. Despite the possibility that by‐elections in a PR electoral system will give an undue advantage to larger parties, in practice by‐elections have not distorted political representation in Ireland. The merits of by‐elections as a method of filling casual vacancies are discussed.

Proportional representation in Ireland

(1991). Proportional representation in Ireland. Representation: Vol. 30, No. 111, pp. 39-41.

Pupil and Parent Representation in Ireland and Germany

(1981). Pupil and Parent Representation in Ireland and Germany. Comparative Education: Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 271-284.

Proportional Representation in Ireland

In January, 1919, a successful trial of proportional representation was made in the municipal elections of Sligo, and in the following July a local government (Ireland) act extended the system to all Irish municipal elections. The form employed is the Hare plan, the “single transferable vote,” as it is usually called in the United Kingdom. On January 15, 1920, the first general trial of the new scheme was made, when elections were carried out in 127 Irish municipalities.