The 2024 general election–a gender analysis

For women in Irish politics, the November 2024 general election was one of both progress and enduring challenges. While women secured a record number of votes, and more women sit in Dáil Éireann than ever before, the overall gender balance in Irish politics remains largely unchanged, and across all political parties, men are attracting more first preference votes on average. Here we offer some explanations for why this is the case. Examining candidate selection data, we show that women are more likely than men to be added ‘to the ticket’ and in some cases, are added quite late, negating against an effective run for office. Furthermore, in 2024, men were overwhelmingly selected to fill party vacancies that arose due to retirements, vacancies that were targeted by parties as winnable seats. Altogether, we suggest that voting patterns cannot be viewed in isolation from party candidate strategies. While the number of women running and winning seats has increased since the adoption of the legislative gender quota legislation, a continued focus on party behaviour in relation to candidate selection must be maintained, if the gender gap in electoral success is to be narrowed and gender equality in political representation is to be achieved.