Author Description

Revision with unchanged content. This work offers an overview of female Irish politicians and their work since the foundation of the Irish Republic. The author does not only analyse the reasons for the continuous lack of women in Irish politics but also to what extent female Irish politicians have raised their voices to fight for women's rights and to put gender topics on the agenda. This analysis is based on the theory of the social construction of gender. Berit Schölzel shows how a complex interplay of cultural, social and also political-institutional conditions has hindered women from entering politics in the past - and still does so today in a society that is presenting itself as modern and which can even claim the second female president in a row. Despite structural changes on the institutional level and promotional measures, the traditional and socially constructed gender roles still seem to play an important role. In the second part of this work the author compares the biographies of the two female presidents Ireland has seen so far: Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson.