WHAT PART OF ENGAGING FEMALE HEARTS AND MINDS IN RETURN FOR LOYALTY AND VOTES DO IRISH POLITICIANS NOT UNDERSTAND?

I have been trying to find some information about voting trends among women in Ireland and it is proving challenging. I did however come across an alarming statistic which was published in The Irish Times/Behaviour and Attitudes Women Today study, 2007.
http://www.banda.ie/reports_ps.html

It reports that:
" in the year following a General Election, and the subsequent formation of one of the most unusual coalitions in the history of the state, it will come as a great disappointment to the body politic that more Irish
women (55%) claim that politics is of no importance to them, than claim it is important (38%).
Indeed, politics ranks as the least important factor to Irish women out of all 19 measured.

While this statistic horrifies me, it does offer an interesting twist in the tale:
"respondents were asked to nominate the one individual they would consider to be the best role model for women in Ireland today. This
question was entirely unprompted in nature, with the female role models
identified arising amongst respondents on a purely spontaneous basis.
The current and previous Presidents of Ireland have between them garnered 40% of the popular “vote” as the best role models in Ireland today.

It is interesting to note that both Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson, while elected to high political office in this country, also stand aloof from the less savoury aspects of the political establishment which the women of Ireland today seem so alienated from”

While this report is two years old, it opens up important questions for consideration for any political party running think tanks on how to reach out to a disenchanted female voter:

• What was uniquely different about both Robinson and McAleese's style and approach? What was their XFactor?
  

• What insights informed and shaped their strategies and what steps did the campaign teams take to ignite such a wave of connection and loyalty among the women who came out in force to ensure these candidates were elected to office?
  

Politicians genuinely committed to understanding and answering these questions are well placed in a race to win the hearts and minds of a female electorate in years to come.

I often wonder what part of ....“engage a female audience in a meaningful and motivating fashion and the results will speak for themselves” .....does the current political establishment not understand?