I absolutely deplore the comments made in the dialogue between Deputies Flanagan and Wallace, with Deputy Shane Ross being part of the conversational group, in Dail Eireann last Tuesday.

Women are in the minority in public life. It is not going to make it easier for them to engage publicl if they have to face such adverse and disparaging comments.

At the same time,  I would like to put on record that,  in all my time as a Greystones Town Councillor since 1999,  and in my time as a Wicklow County Councillor,  2004 to 2009,  very often being the only female member of a council or committee,  I always received the utmost courtesy and help and encouragement  from fellow male members.

Thankfully,  the rudeness that we saw in Dail Eireann does not apply locally.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 21st, 2011 at 5:19 pm and is filed under National Politics.