Will Brian Cowen be re-elected in Laois/Offaly?

Lady Chatterton

Hi Guys, I'm wondering if the good people of Laois-Offaly will re-elect Brian Cowen? Thanks!:)

Jeboa Safari

Probably, but he has said himself he is considering whether he will run, so hopefully he won't

meditraitor

MrsD007 wrote: »

Hi Guys, I'm wondering if the good people of Laois-Offaly will re-elect Brian Cowen? Thanks!:)

If he runs then he will be voted back as TD, without a doubt.

mikemac

Yes, he'll be back

Tullamore Hospital has done well in the last number of years and Brian Cowen was there for every announcement.

And that's only one reason he'll pick up votes

Lady Chatterton

feelingstressed wrote: »

Yes, he'll be back

Tullamore Hospital has done well in the last number of years and Brian Cowen was there for every announcement.

And that's only one reason he'll pick up votes

Isn't that proof that all politics is local at the end of the day.

Jeboa Safari

MrsD007 wrote: »

Isn't that proof that all politics is local at the end of the day.

Unfortunately, the system is broke

johnmcdnl

MrsD007 wrote: »

Isn't that proof that all politics is local at the end of the day.

are you saying that if Brian did an amazing job for your constituency you wouldn't vote for him again???

I vote for the person who will help me and my local area because that's how the system works - If I lived in Offaly I could vote FG and have Brian Cowen kicked out and pretend he never did anything for me...

He did a lot of good for his constituency and the people will remember that - when FG get elected will the people of Offaly/Laois be so well off???

people constantly say to vote for the best politician - well to the rest of the country he might be terrible but for the people in Offaly I'm sure he'll seem like the best option by a country mile because of the work he's done for them..

The Pontiac

johnmcdnl wrote: »

are you saying that if Brian did an amazing job for your constituency you wouldn't vote for him again???

I vote for the person who will help me and my local area because that's how the system works - If I lived in Offaly I could vote FG and have Brian Cowen kicked out and pretend he never did anything for me...

He did a lot of good for his constituency and the people will remember that - when FG get elected will the people of Offaly/Laois be so well off???

people constantly say to vote for the best politician - well to the rest of the country he might be terrible but for the people in Offaly I'm sure he'll seem like the best option by a country mile because of the work he's done for them..

Surely all they have to do is look at their last pay cheque? Were the people of Offaly exempt from the income tax increases, reduced pensions, reduced dole, pension levies etc. etc. Will they be exempt from the future water charges, property taxes etc. etc. etc. etc.

Do they realise he was Minister for Finance from 04-08, and the IMF arrived 2 years laters?

Do the people of Offaly realise Cowen will be pretty much powerless if he gets re-elected anyway?

Lady Chatterton

johnmcdnl wrote: »

are you saying that if Brian did an amazing job for your constituency you wouldn't vote for him again???

I vote for the person who will help me and my local area because that's how the system works - If I lived in Offaly I could vote FG and have Brian Cowen kicked out and pretend he never did anything for me...

He did a lot of good for his constituency and the people will remember that - when FG get elected will the people of Offaly/Laois be so well off???

people constantly say to vote for the best politician - well to the rest of the country he might be terrible but for the people in Offaly I'm sure he'll seem like the best option by a country mile because of the work he's done for them..

I'm sure some Offaly people feel that he has represented them well and they are entitled to their view. In Tipp North, Lowry is a poll topper, same for O'Donoghue in Co. Kerry. There will always be politicians that will look after their own patch at the expense of the rest of the country. You only have to look at Lowry and Healy-Rae...

Gael23

I spent the day canvassing today and its all about local issues. The USC is about the only national issues.

mikemac

Tony Gregory was the original and master at this and was praised for what he did in inner city Dublin

Lowry or Healy Rae try to do it and they get called gombeens

Lady Chatterton

feelingstressed wrote: »

Tony Gregory was the original and master at this and was praised for what he did in inner city Dublin

Lowry or Healy Rae try to do it and they get called gombeens

Great point!

decies

Shame on Offaly people who vote for his man.

flutered

he cant draw a hefty pension on the back benches.

Leiva

johnmcdnl wrote: »

are you saying that if Brian did an amazing job for your constituency you wouldn't vote for him again???

I vote for the person who will help me and my local area because that's how the system works - If I lived in Offaly I could vote FG and have Brian Cowen kicked out and pretend he never did anything for me...

He did a lot of good for his constituency and the people will remember that - when FG get elected will the people of Offaly/Laois be so well off???

people constantly say to vote for the best politician - well to the rest of the country he might be terrible but for the people in Offaly I'm sure he'll seem like the best option by a country mile because of the work he's done for them..

You have summed up in one line everything that's wrong with the Irish Political system.

TD's should be running the country not their county.

If I had my way I would make it compulsory for all TD's to close their clinics in the morning.

If anyone is to run a clinic in a certain area it should be the local councilor .

M.

professore

As a TD you should have no say in any decisions where you were elected. That way we could cut the number of TD's by half and they would have to spend 5 days a week in Dublin and actually RUN THE COUNTRY.

56lcd

It will be a sad reflection on the people of Laois/Offaly if they re-elect the man who forced the IMF to take charge after he sold out or future while on a bender with a rogue banker at Druids Glen golfcourse, surely there aren't that many mental cripples in Laois/Offaly.
If he had any sense of morality he would depart the political scene and forego any ministerial pension.
Have people not noticed the further 10% deduction in their paypackets this month?
Make him suffer on count night.
I hope the fraud squad investigate what dealings he had with the bankers.

thebman

well I'm registered to vote in Laois/Offaly, he won't be getting a preference from me ... ...

DJCR

56lcd wrote: »

Laois/Offaly

Thanks for remembering Laois are there too, I know every town in the county (practically) has been bypassed by the M7 has been bypassed but people do actually live there :D:D:D

He will be re-elected with a massive majority if he runs, he did good things for the constituency.

Tayla

johnmcdnl wrote: »

are you saying that if Brian did an amazing job for your constituency you wouldn't vote for him again???

Who cares if he looked after the constituency if he's robbing hundreds out of your pay check every month

LizT

Without a doubt he will be. I'm registered in Laois/offaly and although he popularity has definitely taken a knock but he is still quite popular in the area. It's traditionally a FF stronghold and many of the older generation especially, with established voting patterns, would not allow anything to change their vote.

the_barfly1

Im in Laois and most definitely will NOT give him a vote, never have, never will. Unfortunately the people in Offaly will most likely return him.

murphaph

MrsD007 wrote: »

Isn't that proof that all politics is local at the end of the day.

It's proof that the Irish people are f**king idiots for swallowing the horsesh!t sandwiches fed to them by local heroes like Brian Cowen. Are people really so dumb as to not see the disastrous consequences of voting so myopically? Yes they are! Hence we'll see Cowen, Healy Rae and other assorted morons being voted in to represent us in our pathetic national parliament. The Irish electorate are largely to blame for our current woes. Anybody walking into a polling station in laois Offaly and voting for Cowen should by rights be removed to a psychiatric institution for his own protection, but tens of thousands will do just that and manage to justify doing so, despite his incompetent handling of our NATION's affairs by claiming that his local work somehow compensates for his failings elsewhere.

There are a hell of a lot of reallly stupid people in Ireland, that's the sad truth.

narddog

He'll be easily re-elected. Just like Lowry and Cooper-Flynn and countless others worthless POS. The fault lies not with these politicans, I'd expect nothing better, but with the people who vote for them. Over and over and over again. As a side note, expect FF to get around 20% of the vote in the upcoming election. Just what does FF have to do, to lose these peoples support? Murder a relative?

wildefalcon

murphaph wrote: »

It's proof that the Irish people are f**king idiots for swallowing the horsesh!t sandwiches fed to them by local heroes like Brian Cowen. Are people really so dumb as to not see the disastrous consequences of voting so myopically? Yes they are! Hence we'll see Cowen, Healy Rae and other assorted morons being voted in to represent us in our pathetic national parliament. The Irish electorate are largely to blame for our current woes. Anybody walking into a polling station in laois Offaly and voting for Cowen should by rights be removed to a psychiatric institution for his own protection, but tens of thousands will do just that and manage to justify doing so, despite his incompetent handling of our NATION's affairs by claiming that his local work somehow compensates for his failings elsewhere.

There are a hell of a lot of reallly stupid people in Ireland, that's the sad truth.

Yes. True. Democracy is a terrible system. Best system we've discovered yet, though.

thebman

wildefalcon wrote: »

Yes. True. Democracy is a terrible system. Best system we've discovered yet, though.

Yes em its more our form of democracy that leads to problems on this scale at local level with parish pump politics.

Barrack Obama didn't get in because he got Biddy up the list in the hospital and got the potholes filled.

murphaph

wildefalcon wrote: »

Yes. True. Democracy is a terrible system. Best system we've discovered yet, though.

Nothing wrong with democracy, it's the Irish electorate I have a problem with! We have a poor electoral system in PRSTV (IMO) but even so, there's just no good reason to re-elect the likes of Brian Cowen based on "his local efforts", yet that's exactly what will happen!

DJCR

thebman wrote: »

Yes em its more our form of democracy that leads to problems on this scale at local level with parish pump politics.

Barrack Obama didn't get in because he got Biddy up the list in the hospital and got the potholes filled.

Don't even get me started, but as a POI his popularity is really tumbling at the mo....

Jeboa Safari

RTE news said his friends have indicated that he will be unlikely to run

hotmail.com

Jeboa Safari wrote: »

RTE news said his friends have indicated that he will be unlikely to run

When was this said?

FF could lose all it's seats there if that happens.

Magi11

johnmcdnl wrote: »

are you saying that if Brian did an amazing job for your constituency you wouldn't vote for him again???

I vote for the person who will help me and my local area because that's how the system works - If I lived in Offaly I could vote FG and have Brian Cowen kicked out and pretend he never did anything for me...

He did a lot of good for his constituency and the people will remember that - when FG get elected will the people of Offaly/Laois be so well off???

people constantly say to vote for the best politician - well to the rest of the country he might be terrible but for the people in Offaly I'm sure he'll seem like the best option by a country mile because of the work he's done for them..

Proof of why we need a list system

Jeboa Safari

hotmail.com wrote: »

When was this said?

FF could lose all it's seats there if that happens.

It was said on the six one news. I still think they'll get a seat, but if Cowen ran they'd probably have a chance of getting 2

wonderfulname

Jeboa Safari wrote: »

Probably, but he has said himself he is considering whether he will run, so hopefully he won't

Hopefully he will, rumour has it that if he chooses not to he'll pass the torch on to his brother, if there's one person worse for the country than Brian its Barry. The votes are there for either of them.

baldbear

wonderfulname wrote: »

Hopefully he will, rumour has it that if he chooses not to he'll pass the torch on to his brother, if there's one person worse for the country than Brian its Barry. The votes are there for either of them.

Nepotism alive in well, again! Barrys an auctioneer. I think its just wrong having auctioneers in government. These guys will make decisions for their mates and get us into another fine mess. Conflict of interests i think i'd call it.

jmayo

johnmcdnl wrote: »

are you saying that if Brian did an amazing job for your constituency you wouldn't vote for him again???

I vote for the person who will help me and my local area because that's how the system works - If I lived in Offaly I could vote FG and have Brian Cowen kicked out and pretend he never did anything for me...

He did a lot of good for his constituency and the people will remember that - when FG get elected will the people of Offaly/Laois be so well off???

people constantly say to vote for the best politician - well to the rest of the country he might be terrible but for the people in Offaly I'm sure he'll seem like the best option by a country mile because of the work he's done for them..

So good ould biffo has done great for the constituency.
Shue didn't he help with that new road, the new hospital extension and got a few medical cards including one for aunty sean (before the sex change ).

Except the local eejits never stand back and think that through his awful actions running the entire country he is also responsible for the likes of the following ...

• the health budget being cut massively and ward closing in local hospital
• uncle jimmy and cousin jimmy, losing their jobs
• brothers jim and james on a 3 day week,
• sons joachim and matt emigrating to Australia even though they are massively in negative equity,
• parents losing retirement money in Anglo and AIB shares
• richie losing everything due to dodgy property scheme

wonderfulname

jmayo wrote: »

So good ould biffo has done great for the constituency.
Shue didn't he help with that new road, the new hospital extension and got a few medical cards including one for aunty sean (before the sex change ).

Except the local eejits never stand back and think that through his awful actions running the entire county he is also responsible for the likes of the following ...

• the health budget being cut massively and ward closing in local hospital
• uncle jimmy, cousin jimmy, losing their jobs
• brothers jim and james on a 3 day week,
• sons joachim and matt emigrating to Australia even though they are massively in negative equity,
• parents losing retirement money in Anglo and AIB shares
• richie going to jail for fraud due to dodgy property scheme

Right, I used to live down the road from Cowen, I'd never vote for him but I see why people do. Before the boom farmers were fcuked, there were no prospects, unemployment was the norm, nobody owned anything. After a few good years and a downturn, everyone might be worse off than they were 4 years ago but they're a darn sight better off then they were 30years ago. People have long memories round there, they recognise that FF's work in the BMW regions has paid off, from that they also are not so stupid as to think the EU is a bad thing. Its not about Cowen doing up the road, if you look around you in the midlands everyone's better off for FF, in their eyes FF were beneficial to the country as a whole.

As for your list, the only thing that's true is unemployment.

3DataModem

wonderfulname wrote: »

Right, I used to live down the road from Cowen, I'd never vote for him but I see why people do. Before the boom farmers were fcuked, there were no prospects, unemployment was the norm, nobody owned anything. After a few good years and a downturn, everyone might be worse off than they were 4 years ago but they're a darn sight better off then they were 30years ago. .

Exactly.

80% of people who had jobs 3 years ago... still have 'em.

Twenty five years ago the top rate of tax (applicable to Civil Service HEOs, not just high-earners!) was 65%.

18+ years ago interest rates were 12-13%. When they slipped below 10% people thought they were rich!

When 30-somethings ask "Why will oldies vote for FF?" they don't realise the oldies have long memories AND things have been worse AND the opposition are ALSO absolutely laughable and ALSO generally incompetent.

jmayo

3DataModem wrote: »

Exactly.

80% of people who had jobs 3 years ago... still have 'em.

Twenty five years ago the top rate of tax (applicable to Civil Service HEOs, not just high-earners!) was 65%.

18+ years ago interest rates were 12-13%. When they slipped below 10% people thought they were rich!

When 30-somethings ask "Why will oldies vote for FF?" they don't realise the oldies have long memories AND things have been worse AND the opposition are ALSO absolutely laughable and ALSO generally incompetent.

I didn't know ff had a cumman in the Isle of Man, must be for the bankers and developers I guess.

Dear God, if the opposition are laughable and incompetent then what the f*** are the ff party ? :rolleyes:

jmayo

wonderfulname wrote: »

Right, I used to live down the road from Cowen, I'd never vote for him but I see why people do. Before the boom farmers were fcuked, there were no prospects, unemployment was the norm, nobody owned anything. After a few good years and a downturn, everyone might be worse off than they were 4 years ago but they're a darn sight better off then they were 30years ago. People have long memories round there, they recognise that FF's work in the BMW regions has paid off, from that they also are not so stupid as to think the EU is a bad thing. Its not about Cowen doing up the road, if you look around you in the midlands everyone's better off for FF, in their eyes FF were beneficial to the country as a whole.

As for your list, the only thing that's true is unemployment.

Why aren't some of the other things like decreasing services, emigration, huge negative equity homes and lifelong mortgages, etc not true or have these nothing to do with the disastrous economic policies of cowen et al ?

BTW rather than go back 30 years why don't you go back 60 years and then say that all postivies since then are down to ff ?

Snakeblood

johnmcdnl wrote: »

are you saying that if Brian did an amazing job for your constituency you wouldn't vote for him again???

I vote for the person who will help me and my local area because that's how the system works - If I lived in Offaly I could vote FG and have Brian Cowen kicked out and pretend he never did anything for me...

He did a lot of good for his constituency and the people will remember that - when FG get elected will the people of Offaly/Laois be so well off???

people constantly say to vote for the best politician - well to the rest of the country he might be terrible but for the people in Offaly I'm sure he'll seem like the best option by a country mile because of the work he's done for them..

I'd vote for the person who hasn't bankrupted me and the country.

Sparks

Why on earth would anyone vote for Cowen on the basis that he'd be good for the constituency? Didn't anyone look at what Ahern did for his constituency after his term as leader? You'd be voting for someone who, if elected, would be required by the party to sit down in the back (and to not even come in as much as was possible to arrange for) and keep his mouth shut and vote for whatever the whip wanted him to vote for.

Besides, if he runs and is re-elected, he's on €93k a year; if he retires now, he's on €143k a year. Why would he run?

wonderfulname

jmayo wrote: »

Why aren't some of the other things like decreasing services, emigration, huge negative equity homes and lifelong mortgages, etc not true or have these nothing to do with the disastrous economic policies of cowen et al ?

BTW rather than go back 30 years why don't you go back 60 years and then say that all postivies since then are down to ff ?

People seem to have gotten me wrong, I gave the point of view of many constituents, I do not share them. I just understand that with limited understanding of anything outside the area and a love of telling tales of how poor everyone's lives were Cowen's core vote is safe.

Pronouns people.

MajorMax

mixednuts wrote: »

You have summed up in one line everything that's wrong with the Irish Political system.

TD's should be running the country not their county.

If I had my way I would make it compulsory for all TD's to close their clinics in the morning.

If anyone is to run a clinic in a certain area it should be the local councilor .

M.

As much as I dislike our present electoral system, a TD is elected to represent his constituency not the country. If he doesn't look after the people in his district he won't get re-elected. A government runs the country

Lady Chatterton

There has been some talk that Brian is going to make for his brother. Do any of the boys and girls of Laois/Offaly have the inside track on this?

wonderfulname

Yeah, pray it never happens.

jmayo

wonderfulname wrote: »

People seem to have gotten me wrong, I gave the point of view of many constituents, I do not share them. I just understand that with limited understanding of anything outside the area and a love of telling tales of how poor everyone's lives were Cowen's core vote is safe.

Pronouns people.

Ok then glad to hear you don't share those views.
I am on ff grassroot alert at the moment.
Hopefully I don't end up like Jim Corr. :eek:

Snakeblood

MajorMax wrote: »

As much as I dislike our present electoral system, a TD is elected to represent his constituency not the country. If he doesn't look after the people in his district he won't get re-elected. A government runs the country

A TD should be thinking in terms of the country's wellbeing and how that trickles down to his constiutency. Most have it arseways.

token56

When people say he did good things for the constituency I would have to disagree, he did good things for Offaly, but he has done feck all in comparison for Laois. But it doesn't really matter for him because if he does decide to run he would get elected by the votes in Offaly alone probably. I would question whether or not he will run and I dont actually think he will. But once again Brian Cowen did good things for Offaly not necessarily for the constituency.

Maj Malfunction

If he runs of course he'll get elected, Offaly is not called the faithful county for nothing!

3DataModem

jmayo wrote: »

I didn't know ff had a cumman in the Isle of Man, must be for the bankers and developers I guess.

I don't think there is one here, but I certainly wouldn't be a member! I guess there would be plenty of that loot over here somewhere though

jmayo wrote: »

Dear God, if the opposition are laughable and incompetent then what the f*** are the ff party ? :rolleyes:

Alas it's a gobsh1te-fest in the Dail. I wish we could cherry-pick a cabinet from the smartest elected, but the fact that it's one side or t'other means that lots of good brains get left on the sidelines.

jmayo

3DataModem wrote: »

I don't think there is one here, but I certainly wouldn't be a member! I guess there would be plenty of that loot over here somewhere though

Oh don't worry there are plenty of offshore bank accounts over there that NAMA will never find. :mad:

3DataModem wrote: »

Alas it's a gobsh1te-fest in the Dail. I wish we could cherry-pick a cabinet from the smartest elected, but the fact that it's one side or t'other means that lots of good brains get left on the sidelines.

Even if there are good brians in ff, they can't be trusted as they have so far allowed their prominet members screw up so badly.

It doesn't matter how smart they are if they are intent on pulling strokes.
In fact the smarter the dodgy ones are, the worse for all of us.