Dear women in politics, it's a lifestyle choice, not a job qualification.

Elections are on here in Ireland. 

Dáil Éireann (Irish Assembly) was dissolved on February 3, 2016. The Constitution of Ireland provides that "Dáil Éireann shall not continue for a longer period than seven years from the date of its first meeting". The last Dáil was elected in February 2011 but that 7 years is an absolute maximum - current law (the Electoral Act of 1992) states "The same Dáil shall not continue for a longer period than five years from the date of its first meeting". The constitution also mandates that "an election for the membership of Dáil Éireann must take place not later than 30 days after a dissolution of the current Dáil." Pursuant to those requirements, an election is now set to take place on February 26th. That is an election cycle of merely 23 days. Admit it, you would love it if "Election 2016" in the U.S. only lasted 23 days. 

Before you mistake the process for a simple one, it is important to know that Ireland's system is single transferable vote with proportional representation. This system is considered one of the most fair and representative of all election systems and many among the League of Women Voters consider it the holy grail of democratic voting systems. I find it incredible interesting and I will write a really geeky post in the near future to delve into and explain the mechanism in detail. But, for the purpose of moving this post along let me just say that with 16 candidates running for the 5 seats in the Louth district, it is a frenzied time of posters, and door knocking and political fliers. Which finally brings me to the flier that came in today's mail.

I have very little doubt that Maeve Yore is a great candidate and based on friends that are going out for her, I am sure I agree with much of what she stands for. She will likely end up with a vote from me somewhere on my ballot. However, I have a rant about women running for office that I am going to get off my chest. 

Why is Ms. Yore marital status so important that it must take up two lines at the top of her mailing? Men never feel the need to mention that they are married and how many children they have. Can't we leave "marriage and having babies as an accomplishment" back in the the 18th century where it belongs?

I don't give a whit what her husband does for a living. Instead I want her to explain her "Zero tolerance in relation to Crime and Criminals" policy. Does she in fact favor the Renua Ireland proposal of instituting "3 strikes" laws in Ireland or is she committing to opening closed Garda (Police) stations? As I know that the 3 strikes laws have been proven not to work and Castlebellingham has only a part time Garda Síochána presence this would make a difference in my vote.

Also, what does she mean about being "passionate about People with Special Needs, Senior Citizens our Young People"? Is she trying to allude to a position on the current health system? Come on, give us details about whether you will move to reopen the A&E (emergency room) at the Louth Hospital.

Ireland instituted gender parity quotas in 2012. If political parties do not field 30% female candidates in the general election they stand to lose half of their public funding. This is a big issue and on a recent radio program, I heard women speak out against it. Saying that the best person for the job should run and if that person is a woman then she will do it. We all know it's not that easy. Systems in Ireland and the US need to change before parity in elections will happen. Legislation like Ireland's is necessary. But as the saying goes, change starts at home. As women let's think about what we expect to see in election material. If as employer would you expect to see this information on a CV (Resume)? Is it pertinent to the job? Is Maeve saying that she needs to leave the Oireachtas (Irish legislature) early on Thursdays so she can pick up her kids from school? Is this a special accommodation that any employer would make? If the answer is no, then it shouldn't be on the campaign literature. As a voter, take a stand for genuinely pertinent information in publications from women. Women running for office, please have respect for your voters by giving us real information. And if it is party leadership that is telling you that this sort of information is "what voters want to know about women candidates" kindly re-educate them and help move the glass ceiling.

In January, I had the great opportunity to meet Séamus Kirk , a prominent politician in the Fianna Fáil party and former Ceann Comhairle (Equivalent of Speaker of the House) of Dáil Éireann. When we talked about women running for office, he lamented that his party is struggling to find female candidates. This is my advice. Start asking women to be candidates, not female candidates. I would give the same advice to Maeve Yore. Sadly, here on Farm Lane, we are so rural the candidate herself did not stop by the house so I could impart my opinion directly to her and, since I doubt that anyone in Ireland reads this blog, I doubt she will see it from our mutual friends. But rants are really never expected to change the world, are they? Perhaps as we look at Trump's rants that is a good thing.