Margaret hopes to inspire more girls to enter politics

THE first ever female TD elected in Cork South West said she is immensely proud to  feature in a portrait in Leinster House that was commissioned to mark the centenary of women’s suffrage.

Fianna Fáil’s Margaret Murphy O’Mahony – who lost her seat in February’s General Election – marked  three years since she posed for the portrait by saying: ‘People have been saying to me lately that, like the new vice-president Kamala Harris, I did break the glass ceiling and I hope it will inspire girls to also enter politics and achieve their dreams.’

The giant portrait by Belfast-based artist Noel Murphy features all 53 female members of the 32nd Dáil and Seanad and includes placed images of Countess Constance Markievicz.

Margaret said she was really glad to have been part of Vótáil 100 that marked 100 years since women were allowed to vote.

‘It’s a huge honour that this painting adorns the walls of Leinster House and it brought back to me  the fact that I made history by being the first female TD to be elected from Cork South West elected to the Dáil,’ said Margaret.Margaret is currently working for Fianna Fáil Senator Diarmuid Wilson and  is switching her time between working at home in Bandon and in Dublin. She recently expressed her wish to secure a seat in the Seanad herself.

Meanwhile, county mayor Cllr Mary Linehan Foley said recent CSO figures point to a sizeable gender imbalance in many facets of Irish life, not just politics, where women held just under a quarter (23.8%) of seats in the 2019 local elections. We have yet fully reached the 2019 target of 30% female candidates, she pointed out.