A women’s rights group will today, 9 June, launch a €35,000 crowdfunding plan to help female candidates in future elections after accusing the Government of failing to do enough to address the issue.

The Women for Election group says the public money is needed just 24 hours after Dáil Ceann Comhairle Sean O’Fearghail publicly backed local election gender quotas as a “pragmatic” step that must be taken.

A major Holyrood drive has been unveiled aimed at getting more women to become MSPs after numbers stalled in recent years.

More than 400 women from across Scotland are to be invited to a day at the Scottish Parliament aimed at generating interest and tackling the gender imbalance in Scottish and UK politics.

Violence targeted against female politicians and activists will be tracked for the first time by a global database, amid indications of a recent rise in attacks.

Researchers reviewed thousands of events dating back to 1997, where political violence was targeted at women – ranging from wartime sexual violence to attacks on female civilians and crackdowns on female-led protests.

On April 4, General Khalifa Haftar advanced with his Libyan National Army (LNA) on Tripoli in an attempt to take over the capital from the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).  Prime Minister Fayez Serraj who leads the GNA described the offensive as “an attempted coup”. Haftar has been slowly building alliances, and now has the backing of France, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Serraj and the GNA have the backing of Turkey, Qatar, and Italy, however, the GNA’s army is an array of militias.