Less than a quarter of local government seats in Louth held by women

Less than a quarter of councillors currently sitting on Louth County Council are women, according to Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures released yesterday.

Of the 29 Louth County Council seats filled in the 2014 local elections, seven were filled by women and 22 by men, giving women a 24% share of the seats held in Louth.

These numbers have changed slightly since the 2014 local elections however, with eight women and 21 men now sitting on Louth County Council.

While there has been a number of changes to the council since 2014, including two councillors (Declan Breathnach and Imelda Munster) being elected as TDs in the 2016 general election, just one of these changes has had an effect on the gender balance in Louth County Council, with Emma Coffey replacing Declan Breathnach on Louth County Council.

This now means there are eight women and 21 men on Louth County Council, giving women a 28% share of the seats filled in Louth.

Louth has outperformed the other border counties in terms of gender balance however.

Out of the 18 council seats filled in Monaghan in 2014, just two were filled by women; in Cavan three of the 18 were filled by women and in Donegal, out of the 37 local government seats, just three women were voted to the Donegal County Council in 2014.