Women For Election Event: Inspiring the next generation of women
Thank you to Women For Election and European Parliament Ireland for inviting me to speak to a fantastic group of young women from Loreto Secondary School Bray about my journey into politics.
Women are generally under-represented in politics. In County Wicklow 10 of the 32 local councillors are women. I belong to the Social Democrats, and we have good gender representation, however this is not always reflected in voters' decisions at the ballot box.
It is important to have more women in politics, as we bring different experiences and may have different priorities to are male colleagues. Our interests should be equally considered in decision-making.
I hope that I have shown these young women that a career in politics is achievable and that you can be an agent for the change you want to see. Let's see what these young women can achieve.
I would really recommend visiting the Europa Experience on Chatham Street, where you can experience through multi-media technology what it is like to be a Member of the European Parliament.