Ireland’s youngest female councillor graduates from University of Limerick

Newly elected Clare County Councillor, Rachel Hartigan credits her success to working twice as hard as the average candidate, as she graduated from University of Limerick today (Thursday) with a Bachelor of Arts in European Studies. 

Aged 22, Cllr Hartigan might be the youngest female councillor in the country, but she is no stranger to politics, having studied it in UL, been an active member of Ógra Fianna Fáil, and interned for Clare TD Cathal Crowe. 

It was during her summer internship with Deputy Crowe that Rachel first considered running in the local elections.  

“I never would have seen myself running for elected politics”, she explained, “but working in Cathal's office, a lot of the queries coming in were what I would imagine a local councillor should really be dealing with. 

“And that's when I realised I didn't know who my local councillor was, which seemed bizarre because I'm a politics student, interning in my TD's office, so I'm politically engaged.  

“And there's a lot that a local councillor deals with that has a huge impact on people's day-to-day lives, and I felt like we were really missing that strong voice.” 

Cllr Hartigan also credits a lack of representation amongst local councillors as a key factor that “spurred” her to action: “I think the median age of a councillor in Ireland is somewhere in the 70s bracket and I felt like that was extremely unfair. 

“When we look at why younger people don't come out in droves to vote a lot of the time, what stood out to me was we can't identify with our politicians. 

“We don't feel like they speak for us and they don't take the time to get to know what our issues are and what's important to us. 

“We're kind of written off and cast aside a lot of the time, and that really spurred me to action as well.” 

Rachel was one of more than 3,600 students to graduate at UL this week, and as a first-time local representative, she said her degree in European Studies has “without a doubt” helped to prepare her for her new role.  

“I could probably go through reams of actual content and papers and academic research that I did, I could give you exact examples that will come into play now in my role, but the main thing is critical thinking. It is the ability to be open minded and have the skills to do your own research, that is the biggest thing. 

“Because there is no guidebook, there is no induction to becoming a councillor, so I'm dealing with queries on housing, medical cards, roads, and footpaths, it's a broad range of issues and I've just started, so having the skills to be able to research properly and effectively and efficiently is huge and I genuinely wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing now had I not learned those really important research skills in UL. 

“Obviously studying politics comes into it but in terms of the other subjects I studied, my time studying marketing was hugely helpful, particularly in planning the campaign. 

“It was massively beneficial to have an understanding of consumer culture and behavior and being able to approach social media strategically, not just throwing something up for the sake of it. And they're all skills and habits that I picked up in my time as a student in UL.” 

Commenting on the landscape for a young woman running an election campaign, Cllr Hartigan said: “I did get a lot of ‘Oh you'll get elected because you're a woman, so you'll get the woman vote or you'll get elected because you're a young person.’ 

“I got elected because I worked my ass off, that's why I got elected.  

“There wasn't an army of young people or an army of women heading to the polling station for me, that's just not what happened, as much as that would have been really cool to see. 

“I got elected because I was canvassing for six or seven hours a day, I was on top of my social media, I was planning and hosting public meetings. 

“I was doing all of the things that you need to do to win, but I was working twice as hard as the average candidate because I had a lot to prove because I am a young woman, so it doesn't make it easier to run as a woman or a young person like some people suggest. 

“You actually have to prove yourself twice as much, and that's not fair, but I think the only way that that will change is if we get more women in and more young people in.” 

Cllr Hartigan credits the support of her family and lecturers in helping her throughout her election campaign.  

“My lecturer Dr Scott Fitzsimmons was very supportive, as was course director Dr Xosé Boan, who advised me to watch myself and my own mental health and well-being as well.  

“Sometimes you get these grand ideas and you're just all go, all the time and you forget to take the time to mind yourself, so I was really glad to have been told that.” 

Rachel does not hail from a political family, with her mother Rosaleen working as a medical secretary and her father Paul the Chief Information Officer for Electric Ireland Superhomes. However, that did not stop Paul from taking on the role of campaign manager.  

“We both learned together and he came out with me every single night, as did my mom. I could not have done it without them,” explained Rachel. 

“Obviously, the focus and the attention is on the candidate, but behind the scenes nobody does it alone, your family has to be on board.  

“It's a huge, massive team effort and for all the work that I was doing with my final year in UL and campaigning, they were out canvassing with me just as much, spending just as many hours at the doors.” 

A native of Parteen, Co. Clare, Rachel attended Parteen National School and now represents the Shannon Electoral Area.  

Reflecting on achieving the two major milestones of graduating university and winning her first election, she said it hasn’t fully sunk in yet. 

“I really felt like I was a campaign/Final Year Project robot, and it’s only the last few weeks I've had time to sit and process and reflect. 

“You never really look at your own accomplishments and achievements and say ‘oh my God, that was really good’. I think Irish people in particular, and women too, are really bad at giving themselves a pat on the back, even when it's well deserved. 

“I'm trying to take in the huge accomplishment, but it's hard to come out and say that and to even feel it, so that's something I'm working on at the moment, giving myself a little pat on the back.”