“Do not wait for permission to be a leader” – Ireland’s youngest female politician Amy Mairs gives advice to young women pursuing a career in politics.

Amy Mairs, Councillor for Limavady DEA on Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, was elected when she was just 19 years old, making her Ireland’s youngest ever elected politician. This gave her a voice from a fresh perspective, specifically for young people (especially women) within her community.

Throughout her childhood and leading into her adulthood she had always been surrounded by politics as she says it “was always a conversation at the dinner table” along with her grandmother also being in politics. The Good Friday Agreement (formed 5 years after Mairs was born) was a key factor in inspiring her to pursue a career in politics as she feels, even though this promised peace, young people like her had been failed as a result of many shutdowns of government.

This led her “to get involved and be a voice for those young people who weren’t legally allowed to vote under the age of 18 but were still being failed by the system.”

Due to being a young and female politician, unlike most, Mairs has faced discrimination compared to colleagues that are male and older. This has only increased the significance of giving young women like her a voice, as she says, “women face triple the amount of pressure, no wonder so many of us have imposter syndrome.”

She uses the example of MLA Nuala McAllister, who had an altercation with Deputy Speaker Steve Aiken in the Assembly Chamber in September, as a matter that would not have taken place if McAllister was a male colleague instead.

Mairs herself has faced backlash on social media platforms during her campaign as users claimed there was no way someone as young as her could have enough life experience to be elected, along with others joking about her age online. She responded to this saying she believes representation from every demographic is important within government.

Mairs tells young women who want to pursue a career in politics to stick with their own perspective in what they believe to be right and wrong, and to “not wait for permission to be a leader, demonstrate how you can lead.”.

She also advises young women to take every opportunity to be a part of school councils and youth forums, ignoring anyone who tells young women that they should not be there.

Mairs states that the most important thing is to “make time for yourself”, with the emotional turmoil that some young female politicians go through, this is key to her.