Social Democrat MP criticises gender imbalance as number of women falls to three under new PM Micheál Martin

The number of women in the Irish cabinet has fallen from four to three, dealing a further blow to the country’s reputation on gender equality in politics.

“There are now as many men named James in the cabinet as there are women,” the Social Democrat MP Jennifer Whitmore said, after the 15-member cabinet was announced by the new Irish prime minister, Micheál Martin, on Thursday.