Fine Gael Dun Laoghaire TD, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, has today (Wednesday) urged her female colleagues in Leinster House to donate professional clothing to ‘Dress for Success Dublin’. Deputy Mitchell O’Connor was speaking after she teamed up with stylist Sonya Lennon for a cross party suit collection drive in Leinster House.

Dress for Success Dublin helps women to enter or return to the workforce by providing free career advice and clothing for interviews. The not-for-profit group was founded in 2011 by Sonya Lennon, and in the last two years it has helped almost 700 women in Dublin.

“Dress for Success Dublin is a fantastic initiative aimed at helping women who are struggling to make their first steps, or get back onto, the career ladder. The group is empowering women to not only make a difference in their own lives, but ultimately in the workforce as a whole.

“By providing women with career advice and helpful tips on how to perform in interviews, as well as providing the right clothes to make a great first impression, Dress for Success is helping women to put their best foot forward. Even more important than that, the group is committed to the progression and retention of women in the workplace, a cause which I feel very strongly about.

“I have previously spoken of the need to increase the number of women in both the political and corporate worlds. Ireland is falling behind the international curve when it comes to female representation on boards, for example, which isn’t just bad for women, it’s bad for business.

“If you have been out of work due to the recession, or child rearing, or a whole range of other reasons, it can be very daunting to take your first steps back into the workplace. Dress for Success helps women make that jump by providing practical help and support.

“I am delighted with the response I have received from my female colleagues in Leinster House, and I hope the clothing donated today by TDs and Senators from all parties will be put to good use by women re-entering the workforce.”