‘I would have been soft in the beginning, but I’m not soft now’

Councillor Carmel Brady (FG) didn’t expect to have a drink thrown across her when she joined local politics, nor did Senator Sarah O’Reilly(Aon) expect she would be rang late at night with threats to “blacken” her name.

Both abusive incidents have occurred since they entered politics.

Cllr Brady was among a number of councillors who attended the launch of the Regional Caucus Network for women councillors. The network is designed to support female reps to remain in politics, progress into leadership roles, and influence policy and decision-making.

Women represent just over 22% of elected members within Cavan County Council; while on Monaghan County Council the figure comes in at just under 17%. Nationally, women hold 26% of council seats.

Looking after a young family is cited by both Carmel and Sarah as a factor restraining women from entering politics.

Proving the point, as Cllr Sinéad Flynn speaks to the Celt, she apologises for the noise made by her children in the background. It’s typical of everything that Cllr Flynn and many other women have to juggle all. She is also front of house at their family business Wild Thyme Restaurant, while they also keep horses.

Cllr Brady acknowledges men are “definitely” more involved in “rearing of the children”. She said “years ago the woman did it all”, which “still” lingers in some families.

“It’s just a natural thing with the caring part of the woman.”

At the regional meeting, Cllr Brady campaigned for more women to even get involved in community groups or committees. She is passionate about having female voices and ideas represented elsewhere, not just on the ballot sheet.

“Women have great ideas, they are very practical,” she said.

Meanwhile, receiving abusive comments outside the chamber “absolutely” is an issue for Cllr Brady.

“I have been called all the names of the day and I nearly would not go into a public house in the evening time. It’s just not worth it because they have the Dutch courage and they would just say something outrageous.

“I just laugh it off and say ‘look, there’s plenty of place on the poll beside me you can put up your face the next time around’,” she said.

“Nobody is going to agree with everybody and everybody has their own ideas and that’s what makes the world go around. If everybody believed the same thing, there’d be no democracy there’d be no nothing.

“You can voice your opinion, but you can’t be aggressive and you definitely can’t touch, or throw something or spill something on anybody.”

As a councillor for over 10 years, Cllr Brady believes this type of behaviour is a recent phenomenon. At its worst, both she and her family were the subject of “horrendous” social media comments.

“It was vicious and it absolutely did bother me but then I quit reading them.

“During my first five years I have to say there was a lot more respect for councillors. Now it is toxic.”

The Cootehill woman thinks this type of behaviour would turn anyone away from joining politics, not just women.

“You could be at the blessing of the graves, doing your shopping and people will come up to you... They think they own you because you are a councillor,” she explained, adding that if somebody wants help with something, she is more than happy to “accommodate” someone “as best I can”.

Senator O’Reilly’s political career began in Fianna Fáil helping now Minister Niamh Smyth, work she found “interesting and very rewarding”.

“It’s exciting, every single day is different but it’s a hard job, particularly for women I feel.”

You need “a thick neck” in that you are on all forms of media and your opinions are widely known.

During her early council days, then Cllr O’Reilly received “plenty” of negative comments, which she took “very personally” and got “very upset” about.

“Now I understand that you’re not going to please everybody. But not everybody is built for the types of robust debate and commentary that female politicians get.”

Comparing her initial days in the council chamber to those of her partner, Cllr Adrian Rogers, Senator O’Reilly said he wasn’t subjected to the same level of negativity.

“He’s had a couple of smart remarks we’ll say, but he can probably handle them better because of his work [as a publican].

“He probably could hold his ground better,” she said, however there are some things that have raised “his eyebrows”.

The Bailieborough senator puts this down to the male domination of politics “for years”.

“If you look back, it’s all men, there’s very few women and we’re adjusting to women being in this sphere as well.”

Senator O’Reilly gives an example of the recent fuel protests, where she openly stated that she supported the farmers. As someone who worked in agricultural contracting for 18 years, she was “empathetic” to their plight. However, a call came from an individual involved with a different party at 11pm on the Sunday night after the fuel protests began.

“The first thing they said to me was: ‘I am going to blacken you’. This man was roaring down the phone at me.”

She received two calls like this, which she said “crossed the boundary” and became “personal”.

“That’s just one instance that’s recent,” she said.

“I would have been soft in the beginning but I am not soft now,” she said, although Senator O’Reilly considers herself “soft” towards the people who contact her with issues.

Asked would she recommend a career in politics, she responds: “I would.”

“It is a very rewarding job when you are able to help people coming to you. I think we need older people in politics, we need younger people in politics, we need people who are professionals and we need male and female.

“We need everybody to get all the different perspectives, the more different the demographic of people we have, the better legislation you’ll have and definitely women think differently to men and you need that.”

For Cllr Sinead Flynn, she joined Monaghan County Council in 2024 although she had been involved as a “grassroots activist” before then. She too would recommend a career in politics, and would “encourage anybody” who is thinking of getting involved to speak to their local councillors. She is “absolutely enjoying” her role as a councillor, which is “ever changing” and “rewarding” but is “not without its challenges”.

Having grown up in Smithborough, Cllr Flynn wanted to be a rural voice for the people in the area of Ballybay Clones, and wanted to be part of the decisions that affect her own area. While she feels she has already fulfilled this ambition, she said as a woman in politics “you have to make your voice louder to be heard”.

In hindsight, she believes she “probably didn’t realise the amount of challenges” involved, and she mentions social media in this regard.

“It is easier to write negative comments [online],” she said, although she also adds that “people are starting to realise that” some remarks are “not acceptable”.

Cllr Flynn is the chairperson of the Monaghan Women’s Assembly and she attended the Regional Caucus Network launch via videolink. She described these types of groups as “invaluable” for women to gather, share tips and also receive training and skills on changing policy.

“Women can bring different insight into policies,” she said, adding: “It’s not about replacing men at all but about bringing a balance.”