O'Sullivan calls for women to put their hands up in elections

MEP for Kilkenny Grace

O’Sullivan has called on the women of Ireland to consider putting their “hands up” and taking a step forward to represent their local communities in the upcoming local, European and general elections.

A relative newcomer to politics, Ms O’Sullivan rst put herself forward for election in the 2014 European election. While her rst run was unsuccessful, she would later be elected to Seanad Éireann in 2016, before nally being elected to the European Parliament in 2019 on her second attempt. e MEP said she had never planned or thought of herself as a politician, having dedicated her work until then to more “activist and environmental” causes, as well as raising her three daughters.

“When I rst received a call from Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan in late 2013 asking me to run, I almost laughed down the phone at him,” O’Sullivan shared. “It took a few more phone calls for me to nally take that step forward, and I’ve been quite lucky since then to have a relatively successful political career. If I hadn’t received that push then, from within the Green Party and from my family and friends, I wouldn’t be standing here today, and some of the legislation I have led on would not be enacted in the way that it has,” the MEP said. e MEP noted that just three of 24 councillors in Co.

Kilkenny elected in 2019 were women. While a slight increase in this gure has come with the co-option of female councillors throughout the council term, it is still far below where a representative democracy should be. While gender quotas for general elections have been introduced, and will rise to 40% of candidates being from either gender from this year, no such obligation exists for council elections, where many politicians are rst elected.

“Pay conditions for local councillors have recently improved, and the introduction of maternity leave for councillors is now being progressed through the Houses of the Oireachtas,” Ms O’Sullivan said.

“Women for Election have done an excellent job in building up candidates — across all parties — to run for o ce, and we can already see more gender focused policy being passed into legislation. is includes the expansion of free contraception for women under 30 here in Ireland, and the Pay Transparency Directive in the European Parliament which will help us to eliminate the gender pay gap.

“When we elect more women, we get better policies for society in general,” she said. However, the MEP said there were still many deterrents present which prevented women from running and being elected to o ce, including social expectations of motherhood and caregiving, and the gender speci c and often sexualised online abuse sent to public representatives.

“It’s important here that we support each other, encourage our colleagues to continue with their work, and work together to reduce this gendered abuse,” she said. “I want to particularly encourage women in rural areas to put themselves forward, where we are particularly under-represented at the moment.”

Grace O’Sullivan will host an open event titled 'Hands Up' this Saturday March 11 at 3pm in her Constituency O ce on 12D Washington Street West, Cork. e event will include a panel discussion and networking afternoon exploring the reality of political life for women in politics, and the intersection it can hold with environmental activism.

More electric bikes on the way with new bays at Marble Arch

Another 30 electric bikes are to added by Bolt to its service in Kilkenny in anticipation of demand this spring and summer, bringing the total in the city to 80.

Bolt Operations Manager for Rentals in Ireland, John Buckley, said: :We have been thrilled by the success of our shared electric bike scheme in Kilkenny'. "With the additional parking bays in place, Kilkenny is ready for the final tranche of electric bikes," he said.

Bolt recently conducted a survey on electric bike users in Kilkenny who opted for this sustainable mode of transport over cars and found that the shared scheme has saved 16,913 km of car trips to date, roughly 1,765 kg of CO2.

The city has successfully been using more than 40 designated parking bays thanks to Kilkenny County Council and local businesses that have recognised the demand for infrastructure.

To ensure the continued growth of the scheme, 10 more parking bays are also earmarked for The Marble City.

Bolt previously earmarked up to €5 million in its attempt to roll out electric bike operations across Irish cities and towns with up to 2,000 bikes available to deploy immediately as required.

The European Mobility Champion recently announced upcoming launches of shared electric bike schemes in Wexford and Bray, Co. Wicklow.

The Government recently committed to promoting e-mobility solutions in cities and towns and will be relying on such schemes to provide essential alternatives for commuters as demand management solutions are considered in the coming year.