Now MacGill hires men to talk gender

FRESH after causing uproar by inviting so few women speakers to address its audiences, the MacGill Summer School is under fire once again.

This time it seemed to tackle that subject head on with a panel called ‘Women In Irish Public Life’... but put only men on the panel.

THE MacGill Summer School has landed in controversy again by listing a solely male panel to discuss the topic of ‘Women In Irish Public Life’.

The annual political gathering came under ferocious criticism last week for its lack of female participation so yesterday it sought to correct that mistake.

It announced a new panel discussion entitled: ‘Women In Irish Public Life: Why Are Organisations Such As The MacGill School Still Trapped In A World Of Gender Stereotypes?’

However, the very question compounded the problem as it emerged that the only two speakers listed are Irish Times columnist, Fintan O’Toole and Gerard Howlin, a columnist and public affairs consultant.

While the summer school did say that other panellists have yet to be announced, the lack of female participation has been met with derision and allegations of ‘mansplaining’.

A number of people took to social media to criticism the further ‘embarrassment’. ‘That is one of the most outstandingly stupid things I have ever seen,’ wrote one Twitter user. Another said: ‘Women clearly need the men to talk on their behalf. @MacGillSummerSc are you trying to be funny?

The latest controversy comes a few days after the director of the school, Joe Mulholland, apologised for the lack of balance at this year’s conference, saying it was ‘working progressively’ to amend the programme before next month’s event. The event’s organisers were forced to apologise after the draft programme revealed a line-up of just 12 women with 44 men.

Several of the invited speakers, including Social Democrats co-leaders Róisín Shortall and Catherine Murphy, have said they will not participate unless three is a step-improvement in the gender balance. The deputies were the only female TDs billed to speak, out of a cohort of eight.

Ms Shortall said: ‘Irish politics has come a long way from the male, pale and stale boys club that it traditionally was.’

Last night, Mr Mullholland told the Irish Times that the latest controversy was down to a technical hitch.

He said that the person who operates the website was away on holidays and he did not have the know-how to remove the two male names from the original session on a temporary basis.