A Different Kind of Power

In the 1991, the fellows of Trinity College Dublin elected a new Provost, a well regarded Classical scholar who wrote the books on Cicero. So far, so conservative. But Mitchell was the first Catholic in the post for 300 years . . . and <frisson> the first who still had children young enough to be housed in #1 Grafton Street his official residence. The three boys had bedrooms carved out of the cellars and it was the first time a dart-board was installed in the Provost's House. Having close relatives who were actual students in his patrimony gave him an insight into the doings and needs of that often disregarded under-class. Catholic? children? it took another 30 years for Ye Fellowes to elect a Womanas Provost, but here they are now.Three of the last four Presidents of Ireland have been women. On the far side of the World, they started electing women as Prime Minister in 1999 and since then only about half those heads of government have been men. Good thing too, women hold up half the…