Women break ‘glass ceiling’ for top jobs on Galway City Council

Galway City Council is bucking the national trend on gender equality in filling senior employment positions, with close on half of the top paid jobs being occupied by women, a national survey has revealed.

In the City Council, 44% of senior positions commanding a salary of over €50,000, are occupied by women – putting it well ahead of all local authorities across the country in terms of gender balance.

Some local authorities across the country have as few as 13% (Kerry) of women in €50,000 plus positions with the national average of females in senior positions coming in at just 29%, the survey in yesterday’s Irish Independent newspaper revealed.

Former acting Galway city manager, Martina Moloney, is now only one of three women county managers across the country – she was appointed as manager of Galway County Council in 2007.

Mayor of Galway, Cllr. Padraig Conneely, told the Sentinel that the stronger element of gender balance in the more senior positions of the City Council, was a reflection of the experience and expertise that these people had.

“The women in those positions in the City Council are there on absolute merit and came through the public appointments procedure.

“The gender balance is quite good in the City Council and is certainly far ahead of many other local authorities – these are people who are highly qualified to do the jobs that they are at.

“There is a very strong female representation across the board in the City Council from engineering to planning to finance. I do think that it reflects well on the Council,” said Cllr. Conneely.

Apart from Martina Moloney’s elevation to County Manager in Galway Co. Council, women are not doing well in getting the top jobs in the county local authority.

Only 23% of women employed by Galway County Council hold positions that have salaries in excess of €50,000, putting it close to the bottom of the gender balance league.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel