Our options for TD in Athlone

Miriamski · 13-02-2011 10:35pm

yekahS wrote: »

Yeah its a pity we don't have any good independents. All we seem to have is Fianna Fáiler's who cynically dropped their party in a futile attempt to get elected. Luckily most of the electorate see through this though.

Well said, Yeksah. What's that expression about sinking ships? By jumping ship when he did, Boxer proved his Fianna Fail credentials. At least Mary O is going down with her ship.

huey1975 · 13-02-2011 11:38pm

If athlone wants a td nikki is the only candidate to vote for. Longford will always elect two tds, bannon and kelly the most likely. Penrose will top the poll but will not have enough transfers to help mae sexton (originally a ffer but more recently of the p.d.s) The real dogfight will be among the athlone candidates as nikki will need to be above boxer and mammy o rourke, otherwise boxers elimination will put mammy ahead of nikki and then nikki will be eliminated and her votes when distributed will elect her running mate peter burke in mullingar. Alternatively peter burke will be eliminated earlier and his votes will help nikki over the line,however the concentration of candidates in the athlone area make this scenario less likely, imo. paul hogan will improve on his last run but really an economic policy consisting of telling the people with the money (imf and eusf) to piss off doesnt make a lot of sense to me. also it is only 15 years since the ira/sinn fein were robbing banks and murdering cops in this country.

berireland · 14-02-2011 12:45pm

The Sinn Fein proposals are gaining momenteum with many well respected and commentators.
From Fintan O'Toole, Irish Times, 29/01/11
"My educated guess is that at least half of the Irish electorate is united on three things. the fact that the bank bailout and its consequences in vicious austerity and the loss of sovereignty are immoral, unsustainable and both social and economically disaster us. an economy of 1.8 million workers simply cannot pay these debts. We need for once and for all a structured, negotiated default.

This is not a radical view more and more economic commentators and players in the financial markets agree and even the IMF came close to saying as much yet in current party politics the argument is being left to Sinn Fein and ULA"
I also note that if elected all Sinn Fein TD's only take the pay of the average industrial wage the remainder going into community projects and the party. If elected Paul Hogan has said that he would publish his expenses monthly.

walrusgumble · 14-02-2011 2:41pm

huey1975 wrote: »

If athlone wants a td nikki is the only candidate to vote for. Longford will always elect two tds, bannon and kelly the most likely. Penrose will top the poll but will not have enough transfers to help mae sexton (originally a ffer but more recently of the p.d.s) The real dogfight will be among the athlone candidates as nikki will need to be above boxer and mammy o rourke, otherwise boxers elimination will put mammy ahead of nikki and then nikki will be eliminated and her votes when distributed will elect her running mate peter burke in mullingar. Alternatively peter burke will be eliminated earlier and his votes will help nikki over the line,however the concentration of candidates in the athlone area make this scenario less likely, imo. paul hogan will improve on his last run but really an economic policy consisting of telling the people with the money (imf and eusf) to piss off doesnt make a lot of sense to me. also it is only 15 years since the ira/sinn fein were robbing banks and murdering cops in this country.

15 years ago, If I can recall I reckon Councillor Hogan was probably still in primary school or at least finished. The Sinner bashing is getting very old by the way, at least keep it more relevant because its not an issue/will no longer be an issue in the future. There are plenty of more reasons to not vote for SF, many of them already mentioned.

You talk of banks, well certain members of FF Parliamentary party, from as far as CJH up to Bertie know a thing or two about robbing the revenue, also there is gun running (unless he is an idiot, which he wasn't Lynch knew) and wire taping. Still, never hurt FF prior to 2007.

What will Nicky do bar been backbencher who will be ignored by Inda, once in? His belle of YFG Lucinda Creighton, long before her anti corporate funding rant in Dongegal was getting forgotten about by Inda. I am not ruling her out myself on vote count, but tell me: during her time as Senator, list 5 things that she is known for , both nationaly and local? And no, not getting a dominant camera angle during televised FG Ard Fhéis. She must have done something, after all, she boasts about her knew found status and been reckonised easier?

Zubeneschamali · 14-02-2011 3:22pm

walrusgumble wrote: »

What will Nicky do bar been backbencher who will be ignored by Inda, once in?

She will vote for Enda for Taoiseach, so that we get a FG-led government.

She's the only Athlone candidate who will, and that is job one, getting FF out.

walrusgumble · 14-02-2011 7:58pm

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

She will vote for Enda for Taoiseach, so that we get a FG-led government.

She's the only Athlone candidate who will, and that is job one, getting FF out.

Sweet lord will she? jesus isn't that amazing, she will vote for her party leader for Taoiseach, one of the men who have agreed that she should run again, for FG in a county already containing 2 other candidates. Well stop the press, I would not have taught that she would have voted a man, who clearly is not wanted by a vast majority of the people, never mind strong and important members of his own party. Don't get me wrong, she maybe brilliant, but your practicular reason and the oh Athlone will have a TD is not enough. Neither is the FF thing, as there will be many other places that will sort them out. Funny though, looking at the local elections (fair enough different kettle of fish) FF in Westmeath, Longford and Laois actually either held their own or gained.

Boards.ie will be fun in 2-3 years when they are complaining about FG and who will take over (partly through no fault of their own due to the inheritant problems and partly through the fact that the Irish Tories may not be the answer). I would have taught anyway, that Enda will have little worries or problems getting Enda in as Taoiseach without relying on Ms McFadden. Sure by that thinking, wouldn't it be the same for any other FG candidate or members of other parties. Is Enda really the answer? He has only really shown metal when his own political career and ambition was at stake, got nothing to do with national interests. (and I don't give a damn how he performs in the media, that's not important)

Going by that, and sorry if i sound rude, but i hate this typical irish political reasons to doing x,y,z.

Again, was has she done, or what issues has she made public etc even in the Seanad. Can anyone actually recall any decent speeches, press conferences etc she made? Even that fool Donie Cassidy gets publicity. Did she even show her face during the floods and ice (even mammy did that- hey no awards now, she was expected and she did nothing anyway)

What are her specific policies for Athlone (even made up ones)? What is her vision for the country? What is her experience (that's a bit unfair) and how will she deal with been a backbencher forgotten about a party who will concentrate on keeping Dublin and other areas theirs? Yes, she is the only Athlonian who will be in government party, but so too was Kelly (can any Longford people tell me if he is any good?) I am only asking because the specific reason was raised by others.

huey1975 · 14-02-2011 9:30pm

Look i wasnt extolling the achievements or virtues of the esteemed senator. However opinion polls, and hopefully the common sense of the electorate, indicate that fine gael will return 2 T.Ds. If this is the case and assuming Peter Kelly, James Bannon and Big Willie Penrose are re-elected it would make sense for the people of Athlone to vote for Nikki. In the 2002 election when westmeath was a three seater constituency it returned 3 deputies from the northern end of the county. As this discussion is about a TD from Athlone I would suggest that the senator is the only candidate with a realistic chance of getting elected.
Of course you are entitled to your own opinion, but expect to be wrong!

Zubeneschamali · 15-02-2011 10:12am

walrusgumble wrote: »

Yes, she is the only Athlonian who will be in government party

No, she's the only one who can be, but she'll only get in if people in Athlone vote for her.

She can still lose to FGers from elsewhere. The boards.ie poll currently shows Penrose, Hogan, Burke and Bannon getting in, with McFadden the last one eliminated.

walrusgumble · 15-02-2011 10:51am

huey1975 wrote: »

Look i wasnt extolling the achievements or virtues of the esteemed senator. However opinion polls, and hopefully the common sense of the electorate, indicate that fine gael will return 2 T.Ds. If this is the case and assuming Peter Kelly, James Bannon and Big Willie Penrose are re-elected it would make sense for the people of Athlone to vote for Nikki. In the 2002 election when westmeath was a three seater constituency it returned 3 deputies from the northern end of the county. As this discussion is about a TD from Athlone I would suggest that the senator is the only candidate with a realistic chance of getting elected.
Of course you are entitled to your own opinion, but expect to be wrong!

Athlone will have a TD, who it will be is another matter. It is your good self and others who seem to the canvassing for Niki, you get asked why her, precisely and you go all parish pump and no attempt even to suggest why she should be voted instead of the other Athlonians. The reasons are very arrogant, much like the current Labour and Fine Gael campaign which is based on the premise that they are destined/execpted to be in government and do not need to do anything else. Remember Neil McKinnock for British Labour in the 1980's and his schengians when he was a whisker of being elected Prime Minister? Well, its not that bad.

I have no doubt with mentality like that Ms McFadden will do well, but don't come crying when it gets all sour.

With regard to 2002, Mary O'Rourke (then the most realistic Athlonian to get elected) did not even get the top vote in Athlone, her own area. She let Donnie slip out of her hands, and the problems caused whilst he was a Minister came back to haunt her.

walrusgumble · 15-02-2011 10:55am

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

No, she's the only one who can be, but she'll only get in if people in Athlone vote for her.

She can still lose to FGers from elsewhere. The boards.ie poll currently shows Penrose, Hogan, Burke and Bannon getting in, with McFadden the last one eliminated.

Will Hogan get in because of his party membership or because of his work as a councillor and his policies. He was not even within an ass's roar of a county council seat in 2009, now he has a prospect of being a TD, what is the reason for the change of heart amongst the constitutents? For the life of me, I don't know how Penrose tops the polls, since as far as 1992ish, has he ever set foot in Athlone? Despite being a Mullingar powerhouse, its Athlone that gets all the goodies and business

Yitzhak Rabin · 15-02-2011 10:55am

Do people here reckon that Hogan will do nearly as well as the boards poll suggests? He is coming in second, whereas Paddypower is putting him at 12/1 odds of even getting a seat.

Zubeneschamali · 15-02-2011 11:10am

walrusgumble wrote: »

Will Hogan get in because of his party membership or because of his work as a councillor and his policies.

No.

He may get in because traditional FF voters are sick of them, but can't vote Commie or Blueshirt for genetic reasons, and hence have no option but SF or Independents.

Zubeneschamali · 15-02-2011 11:41am

yekahS wrote: »

Do people here reckon that Hogan will do nearly as well as the boards poll suggests? He is coming in second, whereas Paddypower is putting him at 12/1 odds of even getting a seat.

The boards.ie poll isn't expected to be very accurate, as the boards.ie users are younger and more techie than the real voting population.

Here's Paddy Power today:

Willie Penrose (Lab) 1/33
James Bannon (FG) 1/7
Nicky McFadden (FG) 3/10
Peter Kelly (FF) 1/2

Mary O'Rourke (FF) 6/4
Mae Sexton (Lab) 7/4
Peter Burke (FG) 5/2

Kevin 'Boxer' Moran (Ind) 7/1
Robert Troy (FF) 10/1
Paul Hogan (SF) 12/1
David Darcy (Ind) 40/1
Donal Jackson (Ind) 40/1
Siobhan Kinahan (GP) 50/1
John Boland (Ind) 50/1
Benny Cooney (Ind) 80/1

huey1975 · 15-02-2011 8:29pm

walrusgumble wrote: »

Athlone will have a TD, who it will be is another matter. It is your good self and others who seem to the canvassing for Niki, you get asked why her, precisely and you go all parish pump and no attempt even to suggest why she should be voted instead of the other Athlonians. The reasons are very arrogant, much like the current Labour and Fine Gael campaign which is based on the premise that they are destined/execpted to be in government and do not need to do anything else. Remember Neil McKinnock for British Labour in the 1980's and his schengians when he was a whisker of being elected Prime Minister? Well, its not that bad.

I have no doubt with mentality like that Ms McFadden will do well, but don't come crying when it gets all sour.

With regard to 2002, Mary O'Rourke (then the most realistic Athlonian to get elected) did not even get the top vote in Athlone, her own area. She let Donnie slip out of her hands, and the problems caused whilst he was a Minister came back to haunt her.

no if nikki is eliminated her core fg vote will be enough to elect peter burke

Eamon Cunningham · 15-02-2011 9:45pm

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

The boards.ie poll isn't expected to be very accurate, as the boards.ie users are younger and more techie than the real voting population.

Here's Paddy Power today:

Willie Penrose (Lab) 1/33
James Bannon (FG) 1/7
Nicky McFadden (FG) 3/10
Peter Kelly (FF) 1/2

Mary O'Rourke (FF) 6/4
Mae Sexton (Lab) 7/4
Peter Burke (FG) 5/2

Kevin 'Boxer' Moran (Ind) 7/1
Robert Troy (FF) 10/1
Paul Hogan (SF) 12/1
David Darcy (Ind) 40/1
Donal Jackson (Ind) 40/1
Siobhan Kinahan (GP) 50/1
John Boland (Ind) 50/1
Benny Cooney (Ind) 80/1

Will somebody please tell me how, in all that is holy, can the odds be so short on Mary O'Rourke getting a seat

Onikage · 15-02-2011 11:01pm

Eamon Cunningham wrote: »

Will somebody please tell me how, in all that is holy, can the odds be so short on Mary O'Rourke getting a seat

Because people won't vote for her anymore.

huey1975 · 16-02-2011 12:15am

its great that she is running though, because it gives us the opportunity to not vote for her and give her the kicking that she should have gotten in 2007 only for the blind loyalty of ff supporters.
a lot of her colleagues hadnt the balls to face the electorate and their devotion to public service was outweighed by the size of their pensions. it is such a shame that the people dont have the chance to not vote for the likes of aherne x2, dempsey, martin cullen, cowen, mike finneran, harney etc.

Miriamski · 16-02-2011 1:44am

huey1975 wrote: »

If athlone wants a td nikki is the only candidate to vote for. Longford will always elect two tds, bannon and kelly the most likely. Penrose will top the poll but will not have enough transfers to help mae sexton (originally a ffer but more recently of the p.d.s) The real dogfight will be among the athlone candidates as nikki will need to be above boxer and mammy o rourke, otherwise boxers elimination will put mammy ahead of nikki and then nikki will be eliminated and her votes when distributed will elect her running mate peter burke in mullingar. Alternatively peter burke will be eliminated earlier and his votes will help nikki over the line,however the concentration of candidates in the athlone area make this scenario less likely, imo. paul hogan will improve on his last run but really an economic policy consisting of telling the people with the money (imf and eusf) to piss off doesnt make a lot of sense to me. also it is only 15 years since the ira/sinn fein were robbing banks and murdering cops in this country.

I think that is a pretty accurate analysis, Huey. Burke is still very junior , so I can't see him being elected. Do you think the concentration of candidates in Athlone will pull a big vote out and ensure that Athlone is not left without a T.d. this time?

Miriamski · 16-02-2011 2:28am

walrusgumble wrote: »

S
Again, was has she done, or what issues has she made public etc even in the Seanad. Can anyone actually recall any decent speeches, press conferences etc she made? Even that fool Donie Cassidy gets publicity. Did she even show her face during the floods and ice

You seem to be confusing public service with public image there, Walrus. True, Nicky has not gone around with a camera on her shjoulder like some public so-called representatives. But if you were in Athlone you know that she personally delivered sandbags and radiators and raised money and worked day and night for people in distress last year and this year. That was a cheap shot, not worthy of this site.

WWhat has she done? As Seanad Spokesperson for Social and Family Affairs, McFadden has presented people on flood relief, people needing cancer screening, 245 elderly people in St Mary's Day Care Centre Mullingar, health service staff in Mullingar Hospital, health care staff in St Vincent’s Hospital Athlone, women needing sexual assaults units, farmers requiring compensation for crop damage, carers of elderly people, people needing out of hours medical services, people needing rescue services on Lough Ree, a young Athlone man needing access to specialist health services, people in Athlone needing treatment for drug abuse, people needing compensation for flood relief. People suffering from cutbacks and inefficiency in the VECs, Westmeath children relying on reneged promises of school buildings programmes, unemployed people looking for job seekers allowance, families facing bureaucracy when a loved one dies abroad, people appealing for child benefit, illness benefit, farm assist and state pension, families suffering cuts in child benefit, cuts in carers allowance, cuts in the blind pension, widow’s pension, tenants suffering under unfair rent increases, people in poverty, the need to protect FAS placement schemes, cut under Fianna Fail, lone parents, children with special needs requiring Special Needs Assistants to attend mainstream education, the IDA, families protesting against the proliferation of head shops (McFadden was among the first and the most outspoken on this), inland fisherman, carers, children in care, people experiencing sharp rises in the costs of electricity, farmers relying for their future on the CAP negotiations, people with disabilities, people running small and medium term enterprises, people employed by small and medium term enterprises, people with diabetes and people on housing waiting lists.

And that was just 2010.

Read the Seanad statements. She has been a tireless, fearless champion. No publicity. No sound bites. Only one agenda. To give a voice to people.

Your beloved Paul Hogan is a nice young man. And I am sure his time will come. But really, what has he done?

ayjayirl · 16-02-2011 2:46am

Hello everyone. I have a question for the boards users if I may. I am a regular boardsy person (other forum) but I recently got drafted into helping my Dad with his political campaign to run as an independent in Longford/Westmeath. I put together his website I was hoping I could ask the good people here for their opinions on his ideas and thoughts.

www.irishelection2011.ie

I don't want to come across as if I am just trying to promote him on boards, I genuinely want people views and opinions from the constituency. If I am out of order, I will gladly remove this post I am just trying to help.

Thanks
Aaron

Saint_Mel · 16-02-2011 9:29am

"I would ask you to cast your mind back to when you were coming home from school and your Mother telling you to hang up your jacket. Unquestionably the greatest time of your life?"

What kind of horse manure is that????

ayjayirl · 16-02-2011 12:59pm

Saint_Mel wrote: »

What kind of horse manure is that????

Thank you for taking a look. That would be the altruism of a 60 year old man who has his and our country ruined by people who are inept, have no understanding of the situation we are in and spout nothing but rhetoric about how they are going to solve the problems we face. I spoke with him today about that and we agreed to change it. He is not a technology person - this is where I come in - conversations he is having with people and things like that quote, whilst something you would 'get' if you met him, don't work on line.

I was more interested in peoples reaction to his ideas and policies on how we should run our country?!

Zubeneschamali · 16-02-2011 2:49pm

ayjayirl wrote: »

Thank you for taking a look.

I took a look at the front page, and it's mostly anti-FF/Green, and yah boo to the government.

I think this is pointless, only die-hard FF voters are going to be voting FF this time. Your Dad need to win votes from people who already know the Government ballsed everything up.

Why vote for your dad instead of FG/Labour?Sinn Féin?

Put that on the front page.

ayjayirl · 16-02-2011 2:53pm

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

I took a look at the front page, and it's mostly anti-FF/Green, and yah boo to the government.

I think this is pointless, only die-hard FF voters are going to be voting FF this time. Your Dad need to win votes from people who already know the Government ballsed everything up.

Why vote for your dad instead of FG/Labour?Sinn Féin?

Put that on the front page.

I have changed the homepage a bit to reflect more the solutions rather than, as you rightly say, proclaiming the mistakes of the past. We have put everything on the site (most of it) in text and videos in the manifesto and videos pages. In those pages, he highlights how he sees we can move Ireland forward.

To answer why him and not the others, I believe the reason for doing that is to two fold.
1) Remove this party whip nonsense. Governments should be formed with general concensus on how to run the country and not just going with the party. This is part of the reason we have a,lot of the problems in Ireland. This is my personal view. I, for example, will vote independent (provided there is one viable, and in this case I think there is) to force the major parties to discuss options rather than just towing the line
2) He has tangible and realistic plans for the country and not merely statements of (We are spending 7 billion) rhetoric! Politicians are deluding themselves if they think we can keep Europe happy and fix the problem. We are paying for the euro experiment and I am sure that most people in this country don't even understand this or why this is the case. I know he does. you may say I am biased and it would be a fair statement - I am his son after all, but in his videos he explains clearly the problem and how to solve it. It may not be what some may think but in all seriousness, we need fresh perspective and I have yet to see a politician accurate assess the current predicament.

Thanks for your responses. They are really helpful.

ayjayirl · 16-02-2011 3:01pm

I would also like to add that on the site there is a discussion page and on it you can ask him a direct question. he will answer it.

veryangryman · 16-02-2011 3:04pm

Saint_Mel wrote: »

What kind of horse manure is that????

Careful St Mel, thats offensive to horse manure

EoghanConway · 16-02-2011 3:20pm

ayjayirl wrote: »

I would also like to add that on the site there is a discussion page and on it you can ask him a direct question. he will answer it.

Discussion? That looks like a simple query form to me but whatever. Why not create a new thread here so we can ask questions?

ayjayirl · 16-02-2011 3:25pm

EoghanConway wrote: »

Discussion? That looks like a simple query form to me but whatever. Why not create a new thread here so we can ask questions?

Hi Eoghan.

Good idea. I'll open one now so people can post any question about his campaign, his policies and open the discussion here.

In relation to the form. These get submitted to his email where he will answer them. These will then be put up on the site int he blog section. I only got it working properly yesterday (my minor headache) so its now working but I will create the thread now.

Will I have any problems with Mods doing that? I don't want to do that either.

Thanks
Aaron

ayjayirl · 16-02-2011 3:27pm

Saint_Mel wrote: »

What kind of horse manure is that????

Hi Saint_Mel.

Clearly you feel strongly on this. Could you give me some actual examples of how you think we could improve the site, or what you're seeking in a candidate? Because otherwise your voice may be lost in pointless anger. I am being genuine here.

Thanks,
Aaron

Saint_Mel · 16-02-2011 6:12pm

ayjayirl wrote: »

Hi Saint_Mel.

Clearly you feel strongly on this. Could you give me some actual examples of how you think we could improve the site, or what you're seeking in a candidate? Because otherwise your voice may be lost in pointless anger. I am being genuine here.

Thanks,
Aaron

Hi Aaron,
Not anger on my behalf, I just read that line and it sounded like pure pointless waffle. When I read pointless waffle, my bullsh!t detector goes off the scale.

In a candidate I would like someone who doesnt go on with pointless waffle.

A couple of observations of the site & content from a brief read through ...
- just wondering why you choose the domain name irishelection2011 instead of donaljackson or votedonaljackson?

- The banner intro reads "Thank you for allowing me into your home". I have never seen nor heard of your Dad before and he has never been in my home.

- The About section states your Dad has "excellent knowledge of financial matters". Can you provide examples of where and how he aquired this excellent knowledge.

- He also says he has a way to have the EU "asking us to let them pay our bank bonds for us". Can you elaborate on this plan or will the details only be revealed if elected?

- What is revolutionary about your software company?

On the Manifesto
I only had time to skim through it but...
- "No student to be refused entry to a course if willing to pay the fees"
Does this mean that a less academic student with money should be accepted into a course ahead of a poorer but more academic student?

Also, just a personal preference ... I'm not into the video bits on the site, I never watch them but it looks like your Dad is drawing out plans on a whiteboard? Why not put the actual details on the site instead of a video of him writing them out.

Didnt have time to read any more

Our options for TD in Athlone

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