See Her Elected, the award winning, Government funded programme, has provided a gate way for women in rural Ireland into local politics, with a record number of female candidates going forward for this year’s local elections, due in part to the training and support from this innovative organisation.
In the week where candidates formally hand in their nominations, a total of 615 women have currently declared their intention of running as candidates in this year’s local elections on June 7th which accounts for 32.5% of the overall number of candidates. This is a marked increase since 2009 which female candidates accounted for just 17.2% of overall candidates and also in 2019 when women made up 28.4% of overall candidates. 
A breakdown of See Her Elected’s statistics show that 238 women or almost 40% of the 615 total number of female candidates running for election this year availed of support, training or resources from the organisation. This figure is compiled of 162 new candidates and 76 sitting county councillors. See Her Elected has also launched a live spreadsheet on their website which tracks the number of female candidates on a county-by-county basis from the 2014 local elections to the current 2024 Local Elections. (https://www.seeherelected.ie/local-elections-2024/)
Election candidates from See Her Elected’s own database have been cross referenced with figures taken from a blog compiled by Maynooth University lecturer Dr Adrian Kavanagh. See Her Elected’s own database is made up of new candidates and sitting female councillors who have availed of free training, support and/or resources from the organisation over the past number of years.
Programme Manager with See Her Elected Dr Michelle Maher said that this figure demonstrates a wonderful success story and the creation of a gateway for women in rural Ireland into politics.
Dr Michelle Maher, Program Manager with See Her Elected and Mairead O'Shea, Communications Manager with See Her Elected. Ger Rogers Photo.
“See Her Elected has enjoyed phenomenal growth and success in a relatively short time frame in preparing women, and the women in their campaign teams, for the 2024 local elections as well as laying the groundwork for 2029 and beyond.
“At the start of nomination week where candidates formally hand in their nomination papers it’s heartening to see that almost 40% of the women who have currently declared their intention to run for this year’s Local Elections have availed of training or support from See Her Elected.
“We are extremely proud and humbled to have played an instrumental role in creating a gateway for women in rural Ireland into local politics through our free online election workshops and also through the publication of Ireland’s first ever ‘Guide to Running in the Local Elections,” said Dr Maher.
A breakdown of statistics from See Her Elected shows 28% of the 162 new candidates who availed of training or support by the organisation are Sinn Féin candidates, followed by 13.5% Fine Gael, 13% Green Party, 12% Independents, 9% both Fianna Fáil and Social Democrats and 6% Labour, 5% Aontu and the remaining 4.5% is made up of other smaller parties. See Her Elected is a programme managed by Longford Women’s Link and is apolitical.
Communications Manager with See Her Elected Mairead O’ Shea said that the organisation supports women from rural Ireland to become county councillors and she pointed out that the first online training with SHESchool began in May 2020 with 46 women registered.
“From that modest base, SHE continued to gain traction, and to date over 1,000 women from every county in Ireland have registered for our training modules. Some of the women who attended our training are working as campaign managers for candidates while others wanted to learn more about local government.
“Since 2020 See Her Elected has also engaged with thousands of women across the country through our in-person events including seminars, local authority collaborations, secondary school workshops and communications masterclasses with political party women’s networks and caucuses,” continued Mairead.
The Government funded programme which is managed by Longford Women’s Link and is an initiative between them and 50:50 North West, is hoping to see an increase in the number of women elected to county councils after this year’s local elections in June.
CEO of Longford Women’s Link, Tara Farrell said: “Currently only 26 % of councillors in the country are women but with a record number of women running in this year’s local elections we are hoping to see a shift in the dial with an upwards trend. However, it is important to point out that this stark under representation of women in local government is a deeply entrenched pattern over many decades so it may take a number of election cycles to reach any sort of 50/50 parity.”
“Supporting women to engage with local democratic structures in rural communities has always been a key focus of Longford Women’s Link and LWL is very proud to manage the delivery of the SHE Programme,” said Tara.
A number of key counties are on See Her Elected’s Watch List for Local Elections 2024 where they are hoping to see increases in the number of women elected.
County Leitrim: There were only six female candidates in 2014 and now 13 women running for local elections in 2024. Only three out of the 18 seats in Co Leitrim are held by women.
County Louth: 11 women ran for election in County Louth in 2014 and this has increased to 27 female candidates in 2024. Currently 9 out of 29 seats on Louth County Council are held by women.
County Mayo: With 11 women going forward for election in June it is hoped to see an increase in the number of female councillors with women only holding 2 out of 30 seats.
County Sligo: Only 3 female councillors out of 18- hoping to see an increase here with nine women putting themselves forward as candidates.
County Waterford: In 2019 two women were elected to Waterford City & County Council. Currently 22 women are running here so hopes are high for an increase of female councillors.
County Carlow: Twice as many female candidates running in 2024 (12) compared to just six female candidates in 2019 so also hoping for increases here.
*Please note statistics in this piece are correct as of 14/05/24 but may be subject to change by the close of nomination week on 18/05/24*
Dr. Michelle Maher, Mairead O'Shea, Kathleen O'Mara with Tara Farrell, Longford Women's Link. Photo Brian Farrell
