Tuam and Galway city lead the way for women contesting local elections

IT appears Galway women are leading the way for others to follow when it comes to local politics.

Analysis of this month’s local election candidates by Women for Election shows the number of women candidates in both Galway city and the county is ahead of the national average.

Galway City East and Tuam electoral areas are among the highest in the country in terms of the number of women contesting the local elections on May 23.

Galway City East at 42 per cent and Tuam at 36 per cent have the highest proportion of women on the ticket. However, Ballinasloe is one of the country’s black spots in terms of female representation with no woman on the ticket there.

Women make up 28 per cent and 23 per cent of candidates in the city and county respectively, which compares favourably to the national average of just 22 per cent.

Across all electoral areas in the city and county, more women are contesting the local elections with a five per cent jump in the city electoral areas and an increase of 5.4 per cent in the county areas.