Racial and Ethnic Minoritised Women’s access to Local Politics in Ireland: Political Imaginaries and Candidacy

Racialised, ethnic minority and migrant women (REMMW) in Ireland are largely unrepresented in local and national politics. To date no research exists on REMMW’s political engagement and candidacy. This research offers the first dedicated account of how REMMW understand, assess, and experience local politics in Ireland. Drawing on interviews with minoritised women( aspirants, candidates and office holders), training programmes, political parties and government we explore the motivations and the enabling and constraining factors that shape the pathways to political candidacy for REMMW. Our assessment is informed by feminist institutionalism and an intersectional approach to differently situated women as they interact with gendered and racialised political institutions. A focus on the political imagination of minoritized women within a broader political imaginary centres REMMW political subjectivities and political agency to reframe minoritised women’s candidacy and examine the factors that shape their access, presence, power & influence at the local level.