European Elections Poll

PopeBuckfastXVI

I know it's a bit late,

but who will you vote in the Euros?

Lockstep

Ganley for sure.

No, I jest;

O'Keeffe (Labour)
Mac Loughlainn (SF)
Harkin (Ind)
And so on down the list with Ganley getting my bottom choice.

I'm trying to vote strategically to keep him out.

toxick

Declan.

Das Kitty

Giving everyone a preference except Ganley and the Shinner.

holidayhere

This poll is probably not representative of the type of people that vote IMHO

cornbb

I'm doing the same as kickoutthejams only giving Marian Harkin my first pref Haven't decided on the rest yet.

What does the O after Atari Jaguar mean?

snubbleste

Why is Ganley's name in italics and the rest is normal script?

Das Kitty

snubbleste wrote: »

Why is Ganley's name in italics and the rest is normal script?

Ha ha! you just gave away your vote!

Libertas? Seriously? :P:pac:

PopeBuckfastXVI

snubbleste wrote: »

Why is Ganley's name in italics and the rest is normal script?

Because he was your selection in the vote.

Everyone see's their selection in italics, so you can remember what you voted.

So for me Marian Harkin is in italics, because I selected her.

PopeBuckfastXVI

holidayhere wrote: »

This poll is probably not representative of the type of people that vote IMHO

Yah but it might be fun to compare the actual results for Galway city, to see just how representative or unrepresentative boardsies are of the general population!

PopeBuckfastXVI

cornbb wrote: »

What does the O after Atari Jaguar mean?

Other!

Robbo

snubbleste wrote: »

Why is Ganley's name in italics and the rest is normal script?

Expect a press release out of HQ accusing the country of running a concerted campaign against him and his international brigade of euro fighters.

It also means you voted for him.

snubbleste

Oh ok, i had a very blonde moment there

Yeah i'm voting for those who advocate a No to Lisbon, so Ganley, MacLochlainn and then some independents from me

Jugs82

Do any of the independents (except Harkin of course) stand any chance of even taking a credible % of the vote?

O'Luain seems to be a good candidate with solid policies from what ive read about him (interviews etc..)

As for Ganley - not a hope in hell and tbh im absolutely amazed at the no. of people i have met and know personally that are considering giving him a tick this Friday - transparency in Europe, what about transparency in how Libertas is funded and aside from that how Mr.Ganley makes his money

Robbo

snubbleste wrote: »

Oh ok, i had a very blonde moment there

Yeah i'm voting for those who advocate a No to Lisbon, so Ganley, MacLochlainn and then some independents from me

It's an election not a referendum. Moreover, how do you expect an MEP to go about opposing the Treaty if elected?

toiletduck

Jugs82 wrote: »

As for Ganley - not a hope in hell and tbh im absolutely amazed at the no. of people i have met and know personally that are considering giving him a tick this Friday - transparency in Europe, what about transparency in how Libertas is funded and aside from that how Mr.Ganley makes his money

People (well some) don't have this problem with the Shinners, what makes you think some won't with Libertas?

Lockstep

I voted against the Lisbon Treaty but frankly we have much more important issues in the EU at the moment than the treaty.

skelliser

surprised at the vote for harkin, shes ff-lite. imo A vote for harkin is a vote for this gov.

Its ganley for me, the easiest way to hurt ff, if he gets elected it will be a pr disaster for the gov, happy days
ganley/fg/lab in that order

PopeBuckfastXVI

skelliser wrote: »

surprised at the vote for harkin, shes ff-lite. imo A vote for harkin is a vote for this gov.

Its ganley for me, the easiest way to hurt ff, if he gets elected it will be a pr disaster for the gov, happy days
ganley/fg/lab in that order

I hear your face likes your nose, you might want to cut it off to spite it...

Lockstep

Boards.ie polls are always strange; anyone remember the 2007 election thread where it was polled that Pighead would be the next taoiseach?

skelliser

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

I hear your face likes your nose, you might want to cut it off to spite it...

What are you on about?!!
Are you that scared of ganley that your reducing yourself to dry insults.
I'm entitled to my opinion and my vote. This is a democracy.

I couldnt care less if ganley is a cia spook or whatever hatchet job ff or rte pull, i listened to most of the nw debates and the vast majority of the time was spent attacking ganley with all sorts of nonsense rather then any issues. It shows that the established crowd are scared of him. Also ff last week called on fg supporters not to give ganley any transfers! cause they now they will need all the transfers they can get. Desperate to hold onto power at any cost.

I say let ganley have a go, shake up the system, stir the pot, whatever.
In reality the european parlaiment is a talking shop anyways. This misguided propaganda that libertas is some sort of evil party thats gonna take over and spread throughout the eu is folly. Just look at their polling in other eu countries. Its a protest vote, nothing more.

Anything that shortens the term of this ff/green farce has to be weighed into your decision in these elections.

Sure look at Pat "the dope" gallagher, couldnt wait to get outta europe the last time and run back to the dail, now that this gov. is screwed he's running back to europe!! Only interested in saving his own ass!

A vote for ff/green or harkin is a stamp of approval of the current state of the country.

PopeBuckfastXVI

skelliser wrote: »

What are you on about?!!
Are you that scared of ganley that your reducing yourself to dry insults.
I'm entitled to my opinion and my vote. This is a democracy.

It's not an insult. You said you wanted to vote in Ganley to make a "PR Disaster" for FF. Where is that PR disaster? In Ireland? No. It's a "PR Disaster" for FF in Europe, and by extension a "PR Disaster" for Ireland, and in particular a "PR Disaster" for the North West who elect him on his wreckers charter.

I would go as far as to say if Ganley get's his way it's more than a "PR Disaster", it's an actual disaster for Europe, given that he is out to weaken the EU, and keep it mired as much as possible in a bloated unworkable form. But sure if that annoys FF, well then whoop de do.

If that isn't cutting off your nose to spite your face I don't know what is?

skelliser

well that depends on your view of europe which i can see is different then mine.
I dont see any viable future to libertas. Dont worry libertas wont destroy europe.

My point is that a pr disaster for ff in europe means more pressure on ff at home, thus shortening there lifespan.

PopeBuckfastXVI

skelliser wrote: »

well that depends on your view of europe which differs to mine.

Indeed, thank you for your honesty, Libertas could learn a thing or two from you...

skelliser wrote: »

Dont worry libertas wont destroy europe.

Given that you want to elect him, it might be better if they did, North West isn't about to 'make friends and influence people' in the EU if he goes over to represent us.

cornbb

I'd be inclined to agree with skelliser that this country needs a change in administration but if anyone could take us from bad to worse I believe it must be Declan Ganley. He is very sparing with the truth and his motives and policies are completely unclear. He is the unelected billionaire leader of his party and is trying to buy his way into power via spindoctors and scare tactics. Everything he claims is a contradiction of reality, he claims that his party is pro-Europe and is neither to the right nor the left but all the signs and alliances point to them being a fringe right-wing Euroskeptic party or worse. Just today in the Galway Advertiser he claims that Ireland still has its commissioner because we voted no to the Lisbon Treaty. This is an extreme distortion of the truth, for reasons that have been covered many times in these forums and elsewhere, and it is typical of his tactics. Even Naoise Nunn, Ganley's former right hand man during the Lisbon campaign, came out recently and admitted much the same thing.

Our current leaders are dire but at least we know where we stand with them. Declan Ganley is worse than that, he is sinister. I appreciate that people might want to use their vote to protest but there are safer ways of doing this than by voting for Ganley. And don't try claiming that I'm part of this imaginary conspiracy against Ganley, I'm not aligned with any party, I'm voting based on the facts as I see them. If you think that other parties and the media are all uniting and rounding on Ganley are because of some conspiracy, perhaps you should consider that they are extremely wary of him because of the dishonesty and spin that he is bringing into Irish politics that makes Fianna Fáil's sins look trivial by comparison. And believe me, I'm no Fianna Fáil fan.

skelliser

Im not aligned to any party neither.
If you want spin I recall peter sutherland (i think) before the nice treaty saying that we would have our comissioner for 150 years!

I dont wanna reduce this thread to a debate on lisbon, so back on track from now on.

PopeBuckfastXVI

Personally I'm looking forward to giving FF a good kicking in the locals.

If party members aren't being elected to the councils they are more likely to rebel against Cowens leadership, possibly resulting in motions of no confidence and if we're lucky a General Election.

That's the best way to kick FF.

PopeBuckfastXVI

skelliser wrote: »

Im not aligned to any party neither.
If you want spin I recall peter sutherland (i think) before the nice treaty saying that we would have our comissioner for 150 years!

He's not 'our' comissioner, Charlie McCreevy (the current comissioner nominated by Ireland) is legally obliged to represent the interests of the EU as a whole. If he was caught giving favouritism to Ireland he would be removed from his post.

Jugs82

toiletduck wrote: »

People (well some) don't have this problem with the Shinners, what makes you think some won't with Libertas?

Still alot of people who have problems with SF - The whole emergence of Libertas scares me and TBH im delighted that the polls have them going so badly across Europe - remember Ganley predicted over a 100 seats, then creating a Libertas group within European parliment - he's now predicting 6 which is still wildly optimistic IMO

Its the ties to the US military, their stance on Immigration, their financial backing - where does it come from, their blantant manipulation of situations to gain votes (Shell to Sea, Fishing rights, immigration etc..) Also, their policies and v.wishy-washy (forgive the english) - Libertas Policies - littered with typo's i may add

Also on their homepage - they have Transparency and Accountability as two key principles - where is the transparency within Libertas itself?

Whatever you may think about the Lisbon treaty, i dont think been No to Lisbon should become Yes to Libertas

skelliser

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

Personally I'm looking forward to giving FF a good kicking in the locals.

If party members aren't being elected to the councils they are more likely to rebel against Cowens leadership, possibly resulting in motions of no confidence and if we're lucky a General Election.

That's the best way to kick FF.

Thats a given but add in a smiley headed elected Ganley and its even more bad news for ff.

skelliser

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

He's not 'our' comissioner, Charlie McCreevy (the current comissioner nominated by Ireland) is legally obliged to represent the interests of the EU as a whole. If he was caught giving favouritism to Ireland he would be removed from his post.

i know man and i agree with you, i was just highlighting the spin both sides use. but the reality is quite different. people percieve that we need "our man" at the table.

Jugs82

skelliser wrote: »

Thats a given but add in a smiley headed elected Ganley and its even more bad news for ff.

And for the Galway, North-West, Ireland...

Better ways to vent your frustration with FF like not voting for them!!

skelliser

Jugs82 wrote: »

And for the Galway, North-West, Ireland...

and what exactly have the current crop been doing for the last 5 years!
I only heard of paschel mooney for the first time when i saw his ugly face on a poster. What has he been doing for the last 5 years!

Its clear as daylight that the nw has missed alot of the eu structural funding, the vast majority heading to the pale. I'm tempted to say that an elected ganley would actually but us on the political map and secure us more funding if only to appease him. Which they will just to shut him up.
If you cant beat them, pay them off!

Jugs82

skelliser wrote: »

and what exactly have the current crop been doing for the last 5 years!
I only heard of paschel mooney for the first time when i saw his ugly face on a poster. What has he been doing for the last 5 years!

Its clear as daylight that the nw has missed alot of the eu structural funding, the vast majority heading to the pale. I'm tempted to say that an elected ganley would actually but us on the political map and secure us more funding if only to appease him. Which they will just to shut him up.
If you cant beat them, pay them off!

Thats some interesting logic..

However, you do have a fair point that we dont see our MEP's until election time and most of what they do is a mystery - this does need to be addressed!

Still, i have heard that Harkin is quiet good and has done alot during her terms, especially hear for the farming community, carers, one off planning - i.e. People building their own homes

toiletduck

Jugs82 wrote: »

Still alot of people who have problems with SF - The whole emergence of Libertas scares me and TBH im delighted that the polls have them going so badly across Europe - remember Ganley predicted over a 100 seats, then creating a Libertas group within European parliment - he's now predicting 6 which is still wildly optimistic IMO

Its the ties to the US military, their stance on Immigration, their financial backing - where does it come from, their blantant manipulation of situations to gain votes (Shell to Sea, Fishing rights, immigration etc..) Also, their policies and v.wishy-washy (forgive the english) - Libertas Policies - littered with typo's i may add

Also on their homepage - they have Transparency and Accountability as two key principles - where is the transparency within Libertas itself?

Whatever you may think about the Lisbon treaty, i dont think been No to Lisbon should become Yes to Libertas

Oh I know and agree somewhat. Just wondering why you'd be surprised at people overlooking this and giving them a tick, when they overlook far worse in other parties.

cornbb

I'm also going for Harkin as I heard her debate with the other candidates and she came across as honest and dignified and it appears that she has had some good achievements in the EP to date. I have personally found it very difficult to get a clear idea of who is who and what they do during this campaign, no-one takes much notice of MEPs until election time.

I also agree that we'll never know what someone will be like until they are elected, and its still difficult to grasp the work they do after they are elected given that the workings of the EP are not as familiar as the workings of, say, the Dail.

Ganley has already put us on the political map, and for all the wrong reasons. Across the UK and Eastern Europe he is attracting accolades from various right-wing and Euroskeptic groups. If the company he keeps is any sign of what his policies what might be like as an MEP (and he sure as hell hasn't told us himself in any clear terms what his policies might be) then I am certain that he would be a destructive force for Ireland and the EU. He certainly got off to a good start with that by leading the campaign to stop the Lisbon treaty.

toiletduck

So Ganley's leading the poll here and The Cope hasn't gotten one vote, yup this will be very representative :pac:

Hopefully this isn't representative. If it rains on Friday it might keep away some of the Ganley crowd.

I'm voting Harkin again and will fill out the ballot except for SF and Libertas.
Harkin is a member of the Liberal group in the parliament.

skelliser

Deleted User wrote: »

Harkin is a member of the Liberal group in the parliament.

and so are ff.

cornbb

toiletduck wrote: »

So Ganley's leading the poll here and The Cope hasn't gotten one vote, yup this will be very representative :pac:

The Cope supporters have never heard of the internet but they are the demographic who are most likely to go out and vote probably :pac:

PopeBuckfastXVI

skelliser wrote: »

I'm tempted to say that an elected ganley would actually but us on the political map and secure us more funding if only to appease him. Which they will just to shut him up.
If you cant beat them, pay them off!

That's making a mistake on his intentions in my opinion. He's not out to create a fuss for the benefit of the North West, he's out to create a fuss for the detriment of the EU. Who's to say he'll even lobby for the NW, he's quite blatently got bigger fish to fry with the whole structure of the EU.

Even if he did set out to get anything for NW it's as likely as your scenario that pro EU MEP's (the vast majority) wouldn't give him the steam off their p*ss, which means we in the North West get f*ck all, to spite him. One bad turn deserves another after all.

Is it worth the risk when there are other non-FF candidates in the field?

skelliser

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

That's making a mistake on his intentions in my opinion. He's not out to create a fuss for the benefit of the North West, he's out to create a fuss for the detriment of the EU. Who's to say he'll even lobby for the NW, he's quite blatently got bigger fish to fry with the whole structure of the EU.

Even if he did set out to get anything for NW it's as likely as your scenario that pro EU MEP's (the vast majority) wouldn't give him the steam off their p*ss, which means we in the North West get f*ck all, to spite him. One bad turn deserves another after all.

Is it worth the risk when there are other non-FF candidates in the field?

So you would rather have the status qou minus ff?

PopeBuckfastXVI

skelliser wrote: »

So you would rather have the status qou minus ff?

I'd rather have the Union status quo than Ganleys vision of it.

I consider Ganley to be significently worse for NW than any other option.

He's worst of a bad lot, rather than the other way round in my opinion.

scottledeuce

skelliser wrote: »

I'm tempted to say that an elected ganley would actually but us on the political map and secure us more funding if only to appease him. Which they will just to shut him up.
If you cant beat them, pay them off!

Seriously FFS, Why would this guy suddenly decide to benefit the North West now.
He seems to have spent most of his life making money in Eastern Europe and Russia

What aboout Ganley's BFF and Libertas's major backer Ulick McEvaddy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulick_McEvaddy,

A man with 10 years background in covert intelligence,
who's current company, Omega Air, depends almost entirely upon the business of the US military and who has already failed to open up knock airport to the US military.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0114/knock.html

Even if I didnt have a sensible bone in my body I'd still think there was something up with these guys,
I mean there just aren't a large number of Irish people who happen to own companies whose major business is providing extremely sensitive services to the US military and intelligence community.

And thats before I start on their policy's which PopeBuckfastXVI seems to have covered pretty well.
I mean punish FF by all means but don't think this guy is going to do anything for the North west

ZorbaTehZ

Harkin #1, intelligent woman with solid principles, and a great speaker to boot!

Ganley has 10 on the pole... for ****s sake tbh. :mad:

sgthighway

Please don't consider voting for Declan Ganley on what you read on his posters. Take time to research him. He is loaded and buying his way into Politics. No track record. Vote anybody but Ganley and FF.

skelliser

scottledeuce wrote: »

Seriously FFS, Why would this guy suddenly decide to benefit the North West now.
He seems to have spent most of his life making money in Eastern Europe and Russia

What aboout Ganley's BFF and Libertas's major backer Ulick McEvaddy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulick_McEvaddy,

A man with 10 years background in covert intelligence,
who's current company, Omega Air, depends almost entirely upon the business of the US military and who has already failed to open up knock airport to the US military.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0114/knock.html

Even if I didnt have a sensible bone in my body I'd still think there was something up with these guys,
I mean there just aren't a large number of Irish people who happen to own companies whose major business is providing extremely sensitive services to the US military and intelligence community.

Im well aware of mcevadys background.
but i think you're being a tad hypocritical, look at shannon, you would be forgiven for thinking its an american air force base.
Now im no supporter of gaaw and i dont mind the yanks using shannon in fact i think its a necessary evil. Yet you berate a business man who has spooky type friends while turning a blind eye to ~150,000 american troops per year, countless hundreds of tonnes of equipment and how many rendition flights? to pass through irish airspace.

toiletduck

Well the militarily flights did manage to keep Shannon afloat!

sgthighway wrote: »

Vote anybody but Ganley and FF.

I'd vote for either before giving anything to SF tbh, and that's saying something.

ionix5891

skelliser wrote: »

Im well aware of mcevadys background.
but i think you're being a tad hypocritical, look at shannon, you would be forgiven for thinking its an american air force base.

so because the current FF lot are bad, its ok to elect another bad lot in the form of Libertas??

does not compute

hey ive no love for FF but at least they have a track record and you know where they stand

scottledeuce

skelliser wrote: »

Im well aware of mcevadys background.
but i think you're being a tad hypocritical, look at shannon, you would be forgiven for thinking its an american air force base.
Now im no supporter of gaaw and i dont mind the yanks using shannon in fact i think its a necessary evil. Yet you berate a business man who has spooky type friends while turning a blind eye to ~150,000 american troops per year, countless hundreds of tonnes of equipment and how many rendition flights? to pass through irish airspace.

Believe me I'm no supporter of gaaw either and toiletduck your may be correct in saying it's kept the airport afloat,

That said I dont agree with the current shannon situation and anyone who would consider pushing the same agenda at knock would most certainly not get my vote.

IMO Ganley's underlying message is clear - the more tightly integrated the EU is politically, the harder it will be for the US to influence it. Thus Lisbon does not "advance US national interests".

Call me a conspiracy theorist if you want but there are too many dots don't add up with Ganley and his party,
Finally, it is once again worth noting that, like McEvaddy, all of Ganley's business dealings have been carried out through 'private equity' companies. Thus there is no way of knowing how much money he has, nor who actually owns the companies he leads.

*EDIT* Just found this from the Irish Indo

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/eu-president-demands-probe-into-source-of-libertas-funding-1480303.html

THE president of the European Parliament yesterday demanded a full investigation into anti-Lisbon treaty group Libertas over the source of its funding.

Hans-Gert Poettering said serious questions needed to be asked about where Libertas had got its money from and the links of its chief Declan Ganley to the US military.

"A total of €200,000 came from a single donor who was a key organiser for Libertas and has military procurement contracts with the US government. I ask Dick Roche, the Irish Europe minister, to make sure he carries out a full and thorough investigation so that we can have full transparency."

Under EU rules, the maximum donation allowed is just over €6,000, meaning that if Ganley's loan is classed as a donation, he could be liable to prosecution.

"There is now a direct link between Irish referendum, the US military and the Pentagon. I call on the authorities to probe the matter," said Greens' leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit.

PopeBuckfastXVI

Even today, the day before the election this is what is on Libertas' policy page:

Libertas wrote:

The Libertas programme for a better Europe will be published on this site in the coming weeks.

http://www.libertas.eu/en/policies

They are not telling you what their policies are until after the election.

They couldn't make that any plainer, you have no comeback on them no matter what they do in your name, because you are giving them free reign.

How can anyone trust them?

How can you vote for them without knowing exactly what they intend to do?