“…Despite these obligations and commitments, the post-Agreement period has not proved conducive for the advancement of women. As a number of scholars point out, not only have women been disproportionately negatively affected by the previously highly 'militarised nature' of Northern Ireland, such as the rise in domestic violence and the lack of reproductive rights, but the political arena in particular has remained a 'cold house' for women (Jarman, 2004;Galligan, 2013;Horgan and O'Connor, 2014). Although female political representation has increased somewhat since 1998, it still remains low in comparison to Scotland and Wales 9 and, with the exception of the Italian regional legislatures, it is still the lowest in Western Europe for comparable devolved institutions (Potter, 2013).…”