Local Election Thread

byhookorbycrook

Local Elections 2014: What issues will you be raising with candidates on the door?

The local elections are coming up on May 23rd. So with that in mind, what are the Carlow issues important to you and that you would like to see the candidates address? Over the course of the campaign Boards is going to try to engage with local election candidates and run Q&A sessions with them, so this is your first chance to tell them what you'll be asking them should they call to your door.

Obviously there's potential for this thread to become contentious, so a couple of ground rules:

NO politician bashing - this isn't about slagging off X candidate or Y party, it's about getting proper discussion going on what issues face Carlow and what the candidates can expect to be grilled on.

NO politicians - feel free to keep an eye on this thread, but you'll get your chance later. This thread is for your potential future constituents only.

Political affiliations - if you're going to be involved in campaigning for a candidate or in the organisation of any party/group's campaign, you must declare this in your first post in this thread.

byhookorbycrook

Rules as follows:
1. Questions only.
2. No canvassing.
3. No slagging off politicians or their parties.
4. Mods may decide to create, change or abolish the rules at any time.

GeneralSherman

There should be another post office in Graigue which has plenty of parking and is easy for the elderly and disabled to access. Not sure if this is something for Carlow or Laois local elections.

Morf

Are rates for businesses going to be re-evaluated?

With pop-up shops at Xmas getting rate-free spaces for a month and some taking business (for a month) from others paying full rates. Isn't this just a gimmick to give the illusion of less commercial distress while making it worse for those remaining in business?

Is a smaller budget in the short term for the county council/UDC better if businesses are less hampered by rates? End of year not completely necessary public works to make sure budgets are used entirely (use it or lose it rule) aren't all urban myth.

Are local politicians going to tell TDs in the constituency to do what the constitution intends them to do and work on a national basis rather than sorting local issues because national public services are crippled by bureaucracy/inefficiency/who you know over need?

Owryan

Love to ask them why nothing is being done about the amount of illegal dumping going on.

That and why they are ignoring the trouble going on along Staplestown rd. Problem families causing trouble for everyone else and the coucil wont lift a finger.

Agent Coulson

The anti-social behaviour and (alleged) drug dealing going on in council housing, the whole town seems to know where and with who this is going on with execpt for the members of the council the only ones with the power to evict and help put a stop to it.

My question....Why is a blind eye been turned to this for so long?

CollyFowler

The pylon issue is going to be massive. AFAIK only Jimmy Townsend and Caroline Townsend confirmed their support for Eirgrids pylon project.

Owryan

Tbh will the pylons not be an urban/rural issue. Where I am anti social behaviour and pay n display parking are the issues. Pylons may as well be on the moon for how it impacts on me.

oscillating wildely

Owryan,

You will find that anti-social behaviour will not be challenged by those who have a remit to do so and this is regardless of how many times you try to shame or force them into action. Trust me I have tried in the past and gave up, for some reason the law abiding citizen is one who seems to have no rights in this "democracy".

byhookorbycrook

Questions only, please.

The Hill Billy

With local elections in May, what questions will you be asking canvassers when they come calling to your door?

With household charges, water metering, flood defence and planning dominating the news over the past year, the forthcoming local elections are set to be a lively affair.

So if a candidate came knocking at your door tomorrow what would you ask them? What issues affect you and yours on a daily basis? What would you like to see changed or introduced? How satisfied are you with the current crowd and what would you like to see changed tomorrow? Do local politics even matter and how should a candidate justify themselves to the electorate?

This thread is intended to raise issues that are important to you, so hopefully local candidates can take notice. Also this thread is to have no canvassing by candidates or party representatives, and any such actions will not be allowed.

We at Boards.ie will be getting in touch with as many candidates as we can, and the aim will be for them to come onto Boards to explain their policies, and to answer the questions that you the posters have posed in this threads. When that time comes we aim to use seperate threads for the candidates so that those threads can be answer and policy specific.

Finally & importantly, we would like this thread to focus on the issues that matter to you & be able to provide the candidates with a clear list of local issues as seen by local posters. If you wish to debate the issues raised - we will create a separate thread.

Owryan

Mentioned in the other thread. Want to know why nothing is being done about illegal dumping. Seems to me im the idiot paying to get it taken away when everyone else is dumping at the back of Raths.

7foot ginger

What is going to be done to help the people that are working for a change? The lower paid workers are not being helped when the unemployed are being given practically free childcare when people who are working and need it more have to pay through the nose! This doesn't make sense to me.

How will they help us to get a mortgage. Myself and my boyfriend are both working full time and I feel like we are discriminated against because we aren't claiming anything. We are doing the honest thing and seem to be getting screwed every way

Super-Rush

Is this thread not the same as the other thread?

7foot ginger

What is going to be done to help the people that are working for a change? The lower paid workers are not being helped when the unemployed are being given practically free childcare when people who are working and need it more have to pay through the nose! This doesn't make sense to me.

How will they help us to get a mortgage. Myself and my boyfriend are both working full time and I feel like we are discriminated against because we aren't claiming anything. We are doing the honest thing and seem to be getting screwed every way

Bagenal

I would like to see some serious work done on the roads after the recent bad weather. We vehicle owners are expected to present our vehicles for tests yet the suspensions take a hammering with the potholes.

madmaggie

Pylons, are they for or against. No waffle, just a straight answer.

Agent Coulson

Is there a list of candidates anywhere?

byhookorbycrook

Threads Merged.

godwin

Who going to build more social housing? there is a ridiculous shortage or none being built at all. i'm on the waiting list for 10+ years now. Before anyone asks yes I work, no I don't qualify for a mortgage and by the looks of things never will.

Agent Coulson

A question I have.

Why are you standing for election? Is it for you're own benefit or for the benefit of the people of Carlow and which will come first when it matters.

7foot ginger

I had Walter Lacey on my door step tonight and asked him about when were the working people going to get some help with housing etc and he basically said you have my sympathy but didn't offer any help for us. He seems a nice man but it's not sympathy me and my family need

Super-Rush

Had Charlie Murphy at the door this evening.

My girlfriend who is not from Carlow answers the door.

Mr Murphy spends all his time saying that he didn't know her, hands her a leaflet and leaves.

No mention of his manifesto or any policies, just concerned that he didn't know her.

Hope the next caller tries a lot harder.

madmaggie

Ye were honoured. He's been our 'local' rep since the last election, and that's the last time I saw him.

byhookorbycrook

Questions only, please.

oscillating wildely

Ask the FG people why Phil Hogan pulled the investigations into planning irregularities - they will tell you they are suspended but they have been pulled.

Ask the FG & Labour people why the property tax is going into central government and not being dispersed on a local level as they said it would be.

Ask any Labour heads why you should vote for them as anything they say will be just to get your vote as Pat Rabbitte informs us not so long ago.

Ask the FF heads what is different about them when they still have heads like Michael Martin and Willie O'Dea who were instrumental in our decline.

Ask any of them to physically sign a document stating exactly what they will do if elected and that if they renege on any aspect that they will resign and not take any form of severance pay - betcha none of them will do that!

BarryD

What is their policy on windfarms and pylons?

What will they do about cleaning up and preventing illegal dumping?

What will they be doing with the money raised from our property tax?

When will I see them again?

AlanS181824

Pylons, Pylons, Pylons!

I want to know more regarding them.

lucylu

Tom Barry is the county manager and was accountable for the poor planning debacle in carlow in the last few years. See http://www.villagemagazine.ie/index.php/2012/03/826/
I want to know. Why is he still in the job and do they have confidence in him?
If a 40m pylon goes up within 300 m of my home they can sing for their property tax. The county council won't have any impact on these decisions as they go directly to an bord planala.
I have my own well and sewage system so water charges don't affect me. I live in the country no lights or footpaths. That doesn't bother me.
illegal dumping is on in increase and I have never seen a council truck on our road removing it. It is always the locals.
The council are also scrapping the road edges and are over turning the sod making a dirty ridge beside the road. making it awkward to pull in on a minor road without doing damage to your tyres

oscillating wildely

A serious question would be what can they actually do? Property tax is being collected centrally and distributed centrally, water charges will be the same. If you ask them about anti-social behaviour you get a load of sympathy but nothing else - one of them in Carlow actually moved because of anti-social behaviour - and none of them have an enterprenuerial background so they are totally clueless as to how to bring life back into the streets of the various towns.

So genuinely I am asking them what they can do and I haven't as yet received back a satisfactory answer, that is one backed up by evidence.

Morf

Is there a list of local and European candidates and contact details where I can email each asking what their intended policies are?

I spent a while on google last night and there doesn't seem to be this sensible facility in place.

Super-Rush

Well I have to say that this thread was a roaring success.

One day to go before the polls open and not one candidate has been seen on this thread.

As for the candidates who called to my door, what a joke.

Charlie Murphy didn't know who we were.
Arthur McDonald wanted to know what milage we were getting from our car. I actually saw him twice yesterday using his mobile phone while driving.
PJ Kavanagh figures that because my grandfather voted FF I will do the same.
Willie Quinn decided to send his sister out to deliver leaflets rather than do it himself.

Owryan

Those that called to me in Carlow town seemed to be more concerned with how they would address national rather than local issues. Austerity, bank debt, bankers, water charges blah blah blah.

Would rather they had addressed the issue of anti social behaviour in my neighbourhood mainly from people living in council houses.

I live in a RAS house and only one candidate seemed interested in the fact that my landlord was refusing to fix the heating or put a lock on my front door.

She ll be getting my vote.

tommycahir

Owryan wrote: »

Those that called to me in Carlow town seemed to be more concerned with how they would address national rather than local issues. Austerity, bank debt, bankers, water charges blah blah blah.

This is quiet a good summary of the above comment from you, the councillors are all on about the stuff they have under their control when they have called to our door.

slightly off topic but is anybody else fed the f up with getting the european candidates leaflets in the post! there has to be some way of removing your consent for that type of mailing.

racso1975

Well I know 2 candidates will get their hand slapped for sending stuff in oireachtas envelopes other then that charlie murphy was the only one who called

byhookorbycrook

No-one rang our door,even when we were here, leaflets pushed through door even when we were here.

Owryan

Only recieved literature from the "protest" candidates ie DDI, AAA today. No canvassers at all called from their side.

Have to say i'm meh about the eu election, dont have much hope in the local elections either. Same old faces with the same old platitudes.

The town needs some new energy, how long has tullow st been neglected?

They may have limited powers but for f**k sake crottys has been eyesore for too long.

mneylon

I've been getting the leaflets for both local and EU elections.

Only one candidate bothered to ring the door bell and I've been at home most evenings for the last couple of weeks.

I've no idea who or where they're canvassing, though I have seen a few of the cars around the place over the last few days.

A lot of the election leaflets looked similar and I seem to have got 5 or 6 in a single day. Maybe they're canvassing when I'm out at work?

madmaggie

Four candidates round here canvassing: Tom Kinsella, Arthur McDonald, PJ Kavanagh and Charlie Murphy. No sign of the Labour crowd, though that was no surprise seeing as I'm directly in one of the proposed pylon corridors. SF never canvass in this area. Where have the Greens gone, still hiding since 2011??

racso1975

Did arthur get out of the car? Called to 2 sets of in-laws and talked out the window instead of getting out.........lazy flucker

tom traubert

Well, I voted anyway. 'Didn't exactly wear out the pencil in doing so either!

Super-Rush

racso1975 wrote: »

Did arthur get out of the car? Called to 2 sets of in-laws and talked out the window instead of getting out.........lazy flucker

No.

Owryan

Voted earlier, seemed lively enough. Now the waiting begins..............the excitement not

AlanS181824

I watched my Mam vote which I thought wasn't allowed but they people didn't seem to mind.

Anyone vote for Anne Ahern? She was my year head :P

Was expecting to see faces I recognised but then I remember I live in Graigue so they were all Laois people!

I however consider myself to be from Carlow.

Owryan

AlanS181824 wrote: »

I watched my Mam vote which I thought wasn't allowed but they people didn't seem to mind.

Anyone vote for Anne Ahern? She was my year head :P

Was expecting to see faces I recognised but then I remember I live in Graigue so they were all Laois people!

I however consider myself to be from Carlow.

J Murnane, D Hurley, D Alcock are from Graigue and running in Carlow.

My 5yo put my ballots in the box, one of the officials? said something the other but the otherjust laughed.

AlanS181824

Owryan wrote: »

J Murnane, D Hurley, D Alcock are from Graigue and running in Carlow.

My 5yo put my ballots in the box, one of the officials? said something the other but the otherjust laughed.

I know all 3 of those politicians! I consider Graigue to be in Carlow so it's a pain voting for Laois politicians ye don't even know!

Even the little polling card said Carlow on it.

I was surprised how unofficial it was, like it was just a few old women sitting at a table marking people off a list and giving them a piece of paper.

Very weird I thought.

Owryan

AlanS181824 wrote: »

I know all 3 of those politicians! I consider Graigue to be in Carlow so it's a pain voting for Laois politicians ye don't even know!

Even the little polling card said Carlow on it.

I was surprised how unofficial it was, like it was just a few old women sitting at a table marking people off a list and giving them a piece of paper
Very weird I thought.

What were you expecting? Scanners, armed security, strippers? Lol. Actually the latter would help voter turnout

Edit: saying graigue is in carlow is heresy to some people. Im from graigue and consider it Laois

AlanS181824

Owryan wrote: »

What were you expecting? Scanners, armed security, strippers? Lol. Actually the latter would help voter turnout

Well yeah, kinda.

Definitely not pop up stands with pencils tied to the top of them!

Morf

Owryan wrote: »

What were you expecting? Scanners, armed security, strippers? Lol. Actually the latter would help voter turnout

Edit: saying graigue is in carlow is heresy to some people. Im from graigue and consider it Laois

The triangle is Carlow. Far into Laois has a postal address of Carlow like Ballickmoyler for example.

AlanS181824

Owryan wrote: »

Edit: saying graigue is in carlow is heresy to some people. Im from graigue and consider it Laois

I remember when the presidential election was on my address ended with
Co Laois
Co Carlow
Even the polling card from yesterday said Carlow on it, not Laois.
The GAA is Laois but yet Ivy Rooms, Dunnes and even when the Dome was there are all Carlow.

It's just matter of opinion really.

madmaggie

racso1975 wrote: »

Did arthur get out of the car? Called to 2 sets of in-laws and talked out the window instead of getting out.........lazy flucker

Heh, heh, yeah, up to the door, even told me I was a distant relation! Like that was going to impress me. :rolleyes: