C&H Election Discussion-y Thread of Politic-y Things

wnolan1992

Thought this might be interesting. As I'm sure most of ye know, there was a huge surge in the youth registering to vote before the Marriage Equality referendum last year, so I'm just wondering how many of the posters in this forum intend to use their vote next week?

We can talk parties (of the political variety) and stuff too if y'all like.

LoonyLovegood

Hehehehehehehehehehe. This election in my mind has been going on since October. Been out canvassing since then, and running canvass schedules. The amount of work that goes in is hilarious.

wnolan1992

LoonyLovegood wrote: »

Hehehehehehehehehehe. This election in my mind has been going on since October. Been out canvassing since then, and running canvass schedules. The amount of work that goes in is hilarious.

Ooh, do you want to share who you're canvassing for? Genuinely interested in what it's like to canvas. I mean, I just tell everyone that comes to the door "Yeah, [candidate] is already my #1! Best of luck!", but luckily I live in a student estate in Limerick so no canvassers bother coming here, and I live in the middle of nowhere in Cork, so basically we get canvassers from FF and FG, and maybe a local independent and then the rest just ignore us.

LostBoy101

I'm just going to vote for whoever is the easiest to blame if the economy goes to the ****ters again.

wnolan1992

LostBoy101 wrote: »

I'm just going to vote for whoever is the easiest to blame if the economy goes to the ****ters again.

To be honest, and I know this is a terrible stance to take, one of the major reasons I'll probably vote is not that I think my vote will make any difference whatsoever, but that over the next 5 years (or 6 months, depending on how this hung-Dàil plays out) I can complain about the government without being silenced by the "Well did you vote?!" counter. :P


If anyone's interested, you can go over to www.whichcandidate.ie and choose your constituency, then select some topics you care about, give your stance on them, then see which candidate in your area matches you best.

pajor

As usual, remember kids..

As a non-resident though, I of course have no vote. Mwa wa

LoonyLovegood

wnolan1992 wrote: »

Ooh, do you want to share who you're canvassing for? Genuinely interested in what it's like to canvas. I mean, I just tell everyone that comes to the door "Yeah, [candidate] is already my #1! Best of luck!", but luckily I live in a student estate in Limerick so no canvassers bother coming here, and I live in the middle of nowhere in Cork, so basically we get canvassers from FF and FG, and maybe a local independent and then the rest just ignore us.

I'm canvassing for the Social Democrats in Galway. It's a weird situation to be in, people are positive but there's also the "sure you're all the same" people. I've got some abuse on the street though.

pajor

Saw this on YLYL in the run up to the last general election.



Forever relevant. :P

iamanengine

So, actually pretty interesting results. What do people think?

Surely no FG/FF coalition. Though at the moment it seems like the only viable option??

A re-election? Could essentially lead to the same results. Interesting times ahead for sure.

AAA all the way :pac:

iamanengine

LoonyLovegood wrote: »

I'm canvassing for the Social Democrats in Galway. It's a weird situation to be in, people are positive but there's also the "sure you're all the same" people. I've got some abuse on the street though.

I didn't vote (to my shame) but my friend did vote SD. So, there's that

wnolan1992

I think an FF/FG coalition is the only thing that makes logical sense right now. FG aren't going to risk going back to the polls, because realistically they could suffer even further losses if SF, SD and AAA boys get stuck in.

Before a single box was open yesterday, Mark Mortell (FG strategist) immediately started sounding out that FF/FG was a possibility. All the rhetoric yesterday was "We need to take on board what the electorate have said!".

FF/FG would be a good thing IMO. It could potentially lead to them finally realising that THEY'RE THE SAME FRIGGIN' PARTY and maybe we can move away from the current yo-yoing between FG and FF style of politics...

iamanengine

So can anyone elaborate on what is happening right now re: the election?

It was nearly two weeks ago at this stage and it seems we still don't really know what is going on/what will happen. Surely they have to form a government asap.

I also agree, FG/FF coalition is probably the right move going forward.

wnolan1992

My understanding of what's happening:

For the past week or so, they've been having back-room chats trying to make up numbers, but no-one will have enough.

The Dàil will meet tomorrow, they'll elect the Ceann Comhairle, then after that the Ceann Comhairle will call a vote for Taoiseach. No one will have a majority of the House, so Enda Kenny will head to the Àras, resign as Taoiseach and be appointed caretaker Taoiseach.

After that, they'll wait until after St. Patrick's Day to meet again, by which time FF/FG will have made a deal to form a government, or there'll be a minority government of LAB/FF or FG/SD/Green/IND which will be in power for 6 months to a year before collapsing and sending us to the polls again.

While all this is going on, the previous government's ministers keep their portfolios AFAIK.

LoonyLovegood

They become caretaker ministers. Irish law says you have to form a government within 30 days of the result being known, so that's 30 days from when Longford-Westmeath was finally declared. Essentially we've the civil servants running the country, and there's a serious chance of having to go back to the polls. Personally speaking, I can't see the SDs in government, from what I'm hearing.

Insect Overlord

Who would have thought when the vote was cast that we'd have to wait until the 6th of May for a government?! :eek: Thirty days came and went and went again!

pajor

In the past I thought that emigrants should be entitled to some sort of voting rights. And I know this is something that is sort of all the time discussed. But after been out of Ireland for almost a year and a half; and having saw the government formation happen at a snail's pace, I have come to the conclusion that I really couldn't care less. Something clicked with me recently that these people really don't represent me anymore.

I was miffed last year that I couldn't vote in the marriage equality referendum, but was so glad that it carried.

But I also have no say on who represents me here, so meh. :P