Election Confirmed for May 24th (opinions on the choice of thursday here aswell)

D. Coughlan

According to a interview in tomorrow's Sunday Independent, Bertie Ahern will dislove the Dail tomorrow(29th April) for May 24th

Villain

Source?

Just seen it on Politics.ie but apparently the President is out of the county so how does that work?

Time Magazine

It is reported on www.politics.ie.

Bertie'll have to be up early in the morning to catch Mary before she jets off to America at 9am...

D. Coughlan

irish1 wrote:

Source?

Just got a early copy of the Sunday Independent thats all.

Arathorn

Thats still a Thursday, I'm really annoyed with that because I wont be able to go home and vote.

InFront

He didn't answer a journalist who asked him earlier on in the week if the election would be called over the weekend.

This could be a deliberate leak to reel people in and throw them back. All this attention over calling the election is giving Ahern an awful lot of camera attention and soundbytes and front pages.

lucernarian

I would be suprised if he showed up at Áras an Uachtarán early tomorrow morning before 6 am.

If it is to be 24th May, I think we will hear within 2 hours of now.

brianthebard

You just gotta love the username in this context....

mike65

Whens the Champions League final on? (not that Berties Man Utd will be there!)

RTE radio has carried this story.

Mike.

He's actually in the park having tea and asking for the disolving of the Dáil as we speak according to news talk 106.

24th seems to be the day-a thursday alright.

DublinWriter

Bertie just called it for Thursday 24th May:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0429/politics.html

Threads merged

Jonny Arson

So Ahern informs his propaganda machine the SINDO before anyone else that he is calling the election...... :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

No surprise it's on a Thursday..... we already knew students and people communiting from Dublin to their shoeboxes in Roscommon obviously don't carry a vote for FF so that's expected.

Well he always going to get it out of the way before the scandal coming up in the Mahon Tribunal so let the games begin!

Villain

And the countdown to the fall of the great Bertie begins, let the race begin.

Heinrich

irish1 wrote:

And the countdown to the fall of the great Bertie begins, let the race begin.

Whether he falls or not is up to the electorate but if he does not then they will deserve what will be coming to them!

It would simply give him a mandate for a further five years of fibs, smoke and mirrors. And as a bonus we will have pencils banned from Irish life. No more embarassment in County Meath, former home of High Kings at Tara.

Macha

I think it's a disgrace that the election has been called on a weekday.

In many other countries, eg Spain and France, the election is always on a Sunday, or another set day. This way, people who commute weekly know where to register to vote, ie where they will be on a Sunday.

Here, on the other hand, how is a person to know whether to register in Dublin or their home constituency?

The sooner we get rid of Bertie the better. He's about as subtle as a ton of bricks. He doesn't fool anyone

Heinrich

taconnol wrote:

The sooner we get rid of Bertie the better. He's about as subtle as a ton of bricks. He doesn't fool anyone

Unfortunately he fools far too many people!

lucernarian

brianthebard wrote:

You just gotta love the username in this context....

Haha!

But yes, my two-hour thing was a bit off. If it was late as 8.30, I'd wonder how she was to catch a flight at 9 am.

ateam

Did RTE1 bring any news coverage of the announcement?

Villain

They had a special radio programme this morning and RTE 1 on TV has a news special at noon I believe. RTE website says it will have them online shortly.

ateam

The noon programme will include Bertie Ahern's speech at 12:30 I think. The election count programme will be held on a Friday this year, will The Late Late get shelved? I think Fianna Fail will prove the pollsters wrong and return to government in a coalition with the PDs and independents.

Round Cable

Have an exam on the day, but I'll be back to vote, don't worry Bertie!

Colonel Sanders

i'll have to take a flexi half day from work but no way am i not voting and contribuing to getting FF out of ofce

Marcus.Aurelius

Colonel Sanders wrote:

i'll have to take a flexi half day from work but no way am i not voting and contribuing to getting FF out of ofce

My sentiments exactly. At last we have our chance to kick that useless shower out of power. Electorate response thus far has been very encouraging. All we can hope for now is that the people who were foolish enough, and fooled into voting for FF last time will redeem themselves with this new opportunity.

ateam

maoleary wrote:

My sentiments exactly. At last we have our chance to kick that useless shower out of power. Electorate response thus far has been very encouraging. All we can hope for now is that the people who were foolish enough, and fooled into voting for FF last time will redeem themselves with this new opportunity.

A new opportunity with Enda Kenny as Taoiseach and Pat Rabitte as Minister for Finance... NO Thanks.

is_that_so

ateam wrote:

A new opportunity with Enda Kenny as Taoiseach and Pat Rabitte as Minister for Finance... NO Thanks.

And why is that?

timmywex

To_be_confirmed wrote:

Haha!

But yes, my two-hour thing was a bit off. If it was late as 8.30, I'd wonder how she was to catch a flight at 9 am.

its not like she has to check in her bagage two hours before like the rest of us plebs

Glenbhoy

Jonny Arson wrote:

Well he always going to get it out of the way before the scandal coming up in the Mahon Tribunal so let the games begin!

Mahon starts tomorrow and will suspend in a week or so apparently, will that be time enough? Do they have anything? Bertie in today's Sindo seems to suggest they do.

Marcus.Aurelius

ateam wrote:

A new opportunity with Enda Kenny as Taoiseach and Pat Rabitte as Minister for Finance... NO Thanks.

If you can't see what the FF/PD govt has done then you shouldn't be allowed to vote. The celtic tiger continued for this long thanks to the last rainbow coalition, which abolished fees for 3rd level. They could see the beginning of something great. Graduates were churned out and got jobs easily as the economy took off, stabilised and fed by these very graduates.

FF got in, taxed the population to death by stealth, ran the economy into the ground, let hundreds of multinationals leave, and claimed it was all OK, as the building industry (purely internal and greedy) flourished. We've lost our knowledge-based economy, and Bertie and co are so corrupted now, they couldn't fix it if they tried, their hands are in so many pockets and so many big business leaders have their hands in the govt's pockets.

The building industry is slowing, and we are at risk of being left with nothing at all. It's insulting that Bertie and co claimed all the glory for themselves, and raped us and the economy. If we are so rich,

Why are people dying on trollies in our third world health system?

Why do we have so little spare cash?

Why is the tax rates (and stealth taxes) so high?

Why are road deaths being ignored?

Where are our speed cameras? (400 of them??!!)

Why are we so stupid that we can't see what they've done to us?

irishash

just read the news this morning (early riser) and was not too shockd to see bertie set the election for thursday the 24 of may. it is a slap in the face to hundreds upon thousands of people in this country to hold the polling on that day. lets list the people he is making it hard for to vote :

1.college students - a lot of college exams will be in full flow during this week and what student is going to jepordise their studies to vote (hopefully all)

2. people who work and live in areas that they are not from - so i live in dublin, work in dublin. i am registered to vote in westmeath. going to be hard for me to get home to vote. going to cost me money, time, effort. going to have to get back to dublin before the night is out. so bertie has just cost me 10 euro there, 10 euros back and 20 euro in taxis to and from the bus stop to the polling station. thank bertie - can i send you the bill for that ??

And before anyone tells me that it is my own fault to live in dublin, its not - policies of this goverment have forced me to find a career in dublin. to the people that say i should register to vote in dublin - why should i ?? i would prefer to be represented in the dail by someone from my own area, with my concerns on board (and on a slightly ironic note, i live in north dublin, in berties area !! so if i was registered here I would have a vote in his own fate)
could i not comute to work i hear someone shout ?? NO NO NO i dont want to get up at 6am every morning and get home at 7.30. i dont want to have to pay huge amounts of money for that privilege either.

3. the eldery, the sick, the disabled - because of the way health services are set up - most outings, appointments, health checks are carried out on weekday (primarly tues, weds and thurs) to minimise cost. so anything that has been organised for that day will either a. be cancelled (at high cost) or b. go ahead (and screw it - it is only an election)

i could go on and on and on - but i wont because there is no point. the only thing that can be done is to vote. shove this decision in his face. get out there and prove to bertie that he can not rule us like a dictator - he cannot be allowed to go against the people HE SERVES and do whatever he likes. i hope every student that can vote will vote - i hope colleges will put off exams due to be on the friday after the election to enable students to get home to vote without worry of how to get back in time for more exams.

i hope........for a better ireland where i do not have to type this out.

murphaph

Personally I think our rates of personal taxation are just about right. I'd be opposed to any further tax cuts on primary income. VAT rate is at the upper end but the real problem there is that far to many items are considered for luxury (21%) taxation. Even basic safety equipment like motorcycle helmets (exempt from VAT in UK and many other jurisdictions) fall under the luxury rate. I think the real real problem is still how the money is spent, rather than how it's generated. Still lots of waste. I was one of the ones duped by FF last time. I'll vote for anyone but that smug sh!te Lenihan in Dublin West this time. He'll still get in, as will Burton and Higgins in what is probably the most difficult constituency to see change. Still though, even of his vote falls it'll send a shot across the bows. Varadkar I'd say has a chance in Dublin West however.

irishash

murphaph wrote:

Personally I think our rates of personal taxation are just about right. I'd be opposed to any further tax cuts on primary income.

totally agree with you on the tax issue - sweden is the highest taxed nation in the EU - but damnit they are fine with it, because they have a world class health system, good roads, good public transportation. It is the waste we have is this country that angers me - 100million on a payroll system for health board workers that DOES NOT WORK. 50 million over budget on the boyne cable bridge and NO ONE IS HELD RESPONSABLE.

VAT though, i feel, should be scrapped. NO need for it. certain items are more expensive to buy in ireland because of it - ie : playstation 3 (30 quid more here that anywhere else in europe), HDTV's (up to 200 quid dearer than in other countrys)

Judt

But yes, my two-hour thing was a bit off. If it was late as 8.30, I'd wonder how she was to catch a flight at 9 am.

She's the president. Security see's her coming and just assumes she's not likely to be hijacking the plane. We'll see in the next few hours if that's true or not.

As for the Thursday voting, it is a bit scabby alright, but then that's Irish politics - every party tries every dirty trick in the book. We've kept the mentality going through the generations from our founding political fathers, who were let's not forget bandits and freedom fighters (aka terrorists, depending on whose side you were on at the time) and so the idea of clean electioneering has never really taken root.

You could say we're fundamentally democratic, but so was the USA in 2000. Essentially we pull the same tricks in Ireland.

SeanW

A Thursday vote seems to have been chosen to disenfranchise as many students and commuters (not friends of FF) as possible.

One more reason to get the bums out.

Colonel Sanders

SeanW wrote:

A Thursday vote seems to have been chosen to disenfranchise as many students and commuters (not friends of FF) as possible.

One more reason to get the bums out.

agreed and whats more some of the staunchest FF supporters I know agree 100% also. The people who are being excluded from voting by having polling on a thursday are the people least likely to vote FF.

Marcais

Walking to the ballot box that is.

A sneaky dash to the Aras this morning to get Mary McAleese's autograph before she goes walkies abroad and the election is called for 24th May, no great surprise on the date, and Bertie's panic obviously spurned by worsening polls.

No excuse for anyone who has been moaning about this that and the other not to get out and vote.

Quite appalling that the only chance you have to make a real difference is limited to a 14 hour period on a Thursday :mad:

A no-vote is just the same as a vote for the incumbent in my opinion and that is the way they see it. The silent vote is just that.

SeanW

I wonder if the FF cheerleaders on this board thing that this "strategic" use of a Thursday polling day is acceptable?

Our man in Havana

It don't matter what day they have it. People will get out and vote regardless.

Anyways it's good that the phoney war is over.

mike65

I can see the mods are going to have to be on thier game, reading over this thread.

Thursday has usually been polling day in this country, students may groan but its nothing new. It would be preferable to hold elections on Sunday and Monday but hey its a Thursday.

Mike.

irishash

mike65 wrote:

Thursday has usually been polling day in this country, students may groan but its nothing new. It would be preferable to hold elections on Sunday and Monday but hey its a Thursday.

Mike.

not the point at all - the reason why the polling day was historically on a thursday was because most livestock marts were held on a friday or saturday (remember we used to be a agri heavy country and farmers and the church ruled the land). and also it is cheaper to run the election on this day as most counts will be completed on the friday, thus avoiding to pay weekend rates to the people who are employed to run the election - triple time on sundays !!!

last general election was held on a friday and was welcomed by all. the only person who did not want the election on friday was bertie. this time he is going against the will of the people (for all the reasons listed above by all other posts). there was a poor turnout last election, mostly due to the fact that a huge storm hit the country on that day, but bertie prefers to think that the voters did not like the day it was held on, not voter apathy....

just because something has been done on the same day over and over again does not mean the day should not be changed.

MightyMunster

I'll be asking for the 24th and 25th off tomorrow. Should be on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday by law. It's a disgrace to try and deny people their right to vote by having it on a Thursday. Hopefully it will backfire

ateam

No matter what day the election was on, people will be moaning. The fact is that the majority of students probably wouldn't even bother to vote anyway. GET OVER IT.

happydance

hi, just wondering, do we know what the actual polling hours are? thanks

Villain

I believe polling must continue for a period of not less than 12 hours between 8.30 a.m. and 10.30 p.m. but I'm not certain.

irishash

ateam wrote:

No matter what day the election was on, people will be moaning. The fact is that the majority of students probably wouldn't even bother to vote anyway. GET OVER IT.

that is a stereotype. most students do vote - they have a greater understanding of the political system that most working people dont. bertie knows this, the people that advise him know this. they also now that most young people will vote for change. that is the main reason that the election will be held on a thursday. they are denying the chance to vote for most students except the most dedicated.

as for the times of polling day - should be from 6-7am to around 10-11pm - if they are people queuing after this time the station must stay open til all queues are gone.

ateam

irishash wrote:

that is a stereotype. most students do vote - they have a greater understanding of the political system that most working people dont. bertie knows this, the people that advise him know this. they also now that most young people will vote for change. that is the main reason that the election will be held on a thursday. they are denying the chance to vote for most students except the most dedicated.

as for the times of polling day - should be from 6-7am to around 10-11pm - if they are people queuing after this time the station must stay open til all queues are gone.

Repeat: GET OVER IT. Bertie is Taoiseach and has the right to call the election whenever he wants.

Time Magazine

ateam wrote:

Repeat: GET OVER IT. Bertie is Taoiseach and has the right to call the election whenever he wants.

Such quality of debate I haven't seen since... well the last thread on AH I think.

Simply because he has the right to call the election whenever he wants doesn't make it just that he calls it mid-week during NUI and Trinity exams. If you have a problem with that, get over it and agree with us.

irishash

ateam wrote:

Repeat: GET OVER IT. Bertie is Taoiseach and has the right to call the election whenever he wants.

way past OVER IT - The point however needs to be made that bertie, the man who is the elected leader of this country, the man who is there to serve the people and to serve the best interests of this country, is not doing his job correctly. he has not done his job correctly for quite a while.

the thursday date is completely wrong - but the country will still vote, make it one of the highest turnouts ever and the country will see a change. will the change be good ?? who knows !!! but the people running the country now are doing a very bad job of it and I, for one, think it is time to give somebody else a chance to do it.

ateam

The notion that students vote for change is also a stereotype. I'm merely saying that talk about the day in which the election falls is unproductive. He's called it for a Thursday, there's no point dwelling on it. Students that can't vote this time, make it your business to vote in 5 years time.

ateam behave! This is a discussion board.

On a general note...

I'm going to have little or no tolerance for muppetry on the general election board by the way.
Bannings and deletions of posts will ensue for muppetry.

Consider that a serious warning people as this board is very busy and is at least by me anyway going to get some fierce simple modding in the next weeks-bannings and deletions are a 2 click exercise- so don't let me have to use them.

irishash

ateam wrote:

The notion that students vote for change is also a stereotype. I'm merely saying that talk about the day in which the election falls is unproductive. He's called it for a Thursday, there's no point dwelling on it. Students that can't vote this time, make it your business to vote in 5 years time.

not saying they always vote for change - i am saying that they do vote and are generally more up to speed with current politics than most ordinary people. they will vote this time and next. the one thing you have not said is whether or not you think thursday is a good polling day ?