Editorial: Catherine Murphy and Róisín Shortall blazed a trail for other women to follow

Former Social Democrats co-leaders Catherine Murphy and Róisín Shortall might have had very little in common with the Iron Lady, but in dynamism and their dedication to public service, they personified the truth of her words.

After they announced that they don’t intend to run in the next election, it is important to recognise how instrumental they have been in breaking down resistance to gender balance in Irish political culture.

In 2015, the pair, along with Stephen Donnelly, formed the Social Democrats.

Despite a historically patriarchal environment, their efforts proved that the more women achieve power, the quicker the barriers will have to fall.

Only a year after the party was formed, then-agriculture minister Simon Coveney told the Dáil the Government was correct to introduce gender quotas.

“We have tried multiple policies since I’ve been in politics over the last 15 years to try and encourage more women into politics and it simply hasn’t worked. So we have to force the issue,” he said.

He also noted: “Ireland will tell other countries in parts of the developing world and so on that they need to find ways of bringing more women into politics. We need to practise what we preach.”

To the credit of Ms Murphy and Ms Shortall, no one could accuse either of not having the courage of their convictions.

It was entirely fitting for the current leader of the Social Democrats, Holly Cairns, to describe both as “trailblazers”.

Yet in terms of getting more women into the Dáil and involved in local politics, there is so much more work to be done.

Ireland is in 22nd place out of the 27 member states of the European Union for the number of women in local politics.

Small wonder Women for Election – which campaigns to increase the number of women in office – has called for the introduction of the 40pc candidate quota to be extended to local elections. Currently, the quota only applies to general elections.

But the toxicity of the political climate is now also an inhibiting factor in enticing women to get involved.

In March, Mary Butler, a junior minister, found herself in the middle of what she called a “co-ordinated campaign of online hate and harassment”.

And in May, Nóirín O’Sullivan, chairperson of a taskforce into harassment and intimidation towards politicians, told the Seanad there was a “palpable sense of menace” that had been “disproportionately targeted” at women.

Last week Justice Minister Helen McEntee acknowledged “a changed environment” for those working in politics.

It is high time the hugely important services of women like Ms Shortall and Ms Murphy were saluted, not slated.