General Election Louth Constituency

ShiverinEskimo

event wrote: »

Those GAA supporters will be FF or SF people mainly I reckon

This. Nearly all GAA heads are staunch party people. They'll probably pay lip service to Fitzer to his face but in the privacy of the polling station they'll revert to form.

There's a reason FF weren't utterly wiped out during the recession. Party for life folk.

Lord TSC

First canvasser round.

Throws a leaflet at me, and is halfway back down the driveway, saying "Oh, I know its a bad time, God knows when it would be a good one but anyway, thanks". Not standing to actually talk. Which makes me wonder why he bothered to ring the doorbell, and didn't just drop the leaflet in the letter box.

Well, like....I know why. If I'd have had the chance to actually talk, he might have had to actually sell his candidate to me....

Party:

FG - O'Dowd

ShiverinEskimo

John McGahon the only caller to the door so far and just wanted to talk about how young he was. Breathnach will be around at some point - always appears. Probably won't get anyone else. The shinners will fill the letterbox with ****e but won't call. Suits me cos I'd fúck them off anyways.

Lord TSC

James Byrne himself just at the door. Friendly chap, probably an easy area for himself to go round given his father sold 95% of people their houses in the area.

Salary Negotiator

Lord TSC wrote: »

First canvasser round.

Throws a leaflet at me, and is halfway back down the driveway, saying "Oh, I know its a bad time, God knows when it would be a good one but anyway, thanks". Not standing to actually talk. Which makes me wonder why he bothered to ring the doorbell, and didn't just drop the leaflet in the letter box.

Well, like....I know why. If I'd have had the chance to actually talk, he might have had to actually sell his candidate to me....

Party:

FG - O'Dowd

Similar experience for me only it was a canvasser for Breathnach.

No body else has come near us yet.

event

Canvassers for SF and McGahon, that's been it for me.

CheerLouth

No canvassers so far - always amazes me that candidates will talk up about protecting & not forgetting rural Ireland but never ever actually call to houses in the countryside.

tayto lover

One very apologetic canvasser called and gave me a Breathnach leaflet.
He said “ maybe you’d consider giving him a vote” and that was it, not another word.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

CheerLouth wrote: »

No canvassers so far - always amazes me that candidates will talk up about protecting & not forgetting rural Ireland but never ever actually call to houses in the countryside.

Agreed. Can't remember the last time a canvasser called here and we have not had an actual candidate call in over 35 years. Even in the local elections they're only canvassing the town. I know it's a matter of population density and time available but it gets to the point where you'd nearly vote for somebody because they bothered to call.

joeysoap

0 so far.

IvoryTower

They never call to my house thankfully, I would say estates in towns/villages are the only thing worth their while visiting.

Nothing but leaflets so for us and fewer than usual. SF popped up on my facebook and the only ones to do so, so they are spending there. Money poorly spent by them as I'd not lean that way but obviously the algorithm thinks I do :pac:

ShiverinEskimo

IvoryTower wrote: »

They never call to my house thankfully, I would say estates in towns/villages are the only thing worth their while visiting.

Had shinners today who were politely told to GTFO and ha McGahin two days ago. I live in the sticks. Breathnach will be around at some point too. Always is.

peejay1986

Yeah we never get people to our door either as they assume we're part of the house next door. Great!

peejay1986

Some quick fire Qs with Ged Nash

https://louthnow.ie/2020/01/26/louthnow-ie-candidates-questions-labour-senator-ged-nash/

IvoryTower

I assume he meant to say housing rather than jobs, are jobs an issue?

Lord TSC

IvoryTower wrote: »

I assume he meant to say housing rather than jobs, are jobs an issue?

In Drogheda? Employment has always been an issue.

IvoryTower

Lord TSC wrote: »

In Drogheda? Employment has always been an issue.

550 jobs on indeed at the moment, would have thought finding a house near a place to work was a lot harder. Are there any figures on Drogheda compared to the rest of Ireland?

CheerLouth

Arya Fresh Plantation wrote: »

Even in the local elections they're only canvassing the town. I know it's a matter of population density and time available but it gets to the point where you'd nearly vote for somebody because they bothered to call.

This actually bugs me more than the General Election candidates not calling - if you put your name in the running for an electoral area with "rural" in the name of it, you better be willing to get out to the sticks, get the walking shoes on and put some miles in!

IvoryTower

IvoryTower wrote: »

550 jobs on indeed at the moment, would have thought finding a house near a place to work was a lot harder. Are there any figures on Drogheda compared to the rest of Ireland?

Only had a quick look at was on offer jobs wise but most of them were in retail or restaurants, nothing wrong with that kind of work but if you have experience and qualifications in other areas you'd be looking elsewhere for work.

I consider myself incredibly lucky to be working in my field in town and not have to travel to either Dundalk or Dublin each day. On a bad day it takes me 25 minutes door to door on the bike, bit longer on the way home due to the hill

You see time and time again big job announcements for Dundalk and little or nothing coming to Drogheda. The last significant one I recall for Drogheda was MTI I think and they are gone now.

Lord TSC

Deleted User wrote: »

Only had a quick look at was on offer jobs wise but most of them were in retail or restaurants, nothing wrong with that kind of work but if you have experience and qualifications in other areas you'd be looking elsewhere for work.

I consider myself incredibly lucky to be working in my field in town and not have to travel to either Dundalk or Dublin each day. On a bad day it takes me 25 minutes door to door on the bike, bit longer on the way home due to the hill

You see time and time again big job announcements for Dundalk and little or nothing coming to Drogheda. The last significant one I recall for Drogheda was MTI I think and they are gone now.

This is it.

I constantly hear FG tout about how unemployment is way, way down but it's the quality of jobs that's a massive issue. There's an abundance of minimum wage jobs, zero contract hour jobs, jobs where you're "self employed" and just above the breadline.

But in terms of jobs that actually let you work towards things like forging a proper life for yourself, with long term ambitions and the likes, those are massively lacking. By and large, the options in Drogheda is to accept jobs that are basically minimum wage, or leave the town.

The Dundalk thing is another massive point too. It's a sentiment I see a lot around town; that any time something comes along, it goes to Dundalk and Drogheda gets little to nothing. And when it does, it's temporary. As you said there, you'll see things every now and again in the papers like "500 jobs for Drogheda!" and in the fine print it's over a decade with only 10 starting off, and after a year, the company pulls out and those 10 do too.

I saw that there was land zoned in Drogheda for a few thousand jobs, that is apparently being give to Amazon for a data center. Which sounds great, but there will only be a few dozen jobs at best there, meaning the land which was meant to provide a MASSIVE boost for the town just got stripped away.

Salary Negotiator

Lord TSC wrote: »

This is it.

I constantly hear FG tout about how unemployment is way, way down but it's the quality of jobs that's a massive issue. There's an abundance of minimum wage jobs, zero contract hour jobs, jobs where you're "self employed" and just above the breadline.

But in terms of jobs that actually let you work towards things like forging a proper life for yourself, with long term ambitions and the likes, those are massively lacking. By and large, the options in Drogheda is to accept jobs that are basically minimum wage, or leave the town.

The Dundalk thing is another massive point too. It's a sentiment I see a lot around town; that any time something comes along, it goes to Dundalk and Drogheda gets little to nothing. And when it does, it's temporary. As you said there, you'll see things every now and again in the papers like "500 jobs for Drogheda!" and in the fine print it's over a decade with only 10 starting off, and after a year, the company pulls out and those 10 do too.

I saw that there was land zoned in Drogheda for a few thousand jobs, that is apparently being give to Amazon for a data center. Which sounds great, but there will only be a few dozen jobs at best there, meaning the land which was meant to provide a MASSIVE boost for the town just got stripped away.

It's funny, I live near Dundalk but work in Dublin and I'm looking for something closer to home. The last 2 interviews I've had have both been in Drogheda, I was beginning to resent Drogheda for having all the jobs (among other reasons:D)

joeysoap

Last two young people who worked beside me inn Dundalk leftfor better jobs in drogheda. To be absolutely fair they were from Drogheda and got the jobs in the first place because they applied while still in DKIT. One to State Street the other I cant recall.

Would prefer not to be devise over this issue. Any jobs in the county are great.

Salary Negotiator

joeysoap wrote: »

Would prefer not to be devise over this issue. Any jobs in the county are great.

I agree and wasn’t being serious, I wouldn’t begrudge Drogheda any new jobs.

Mr Magnolia

No callers here yet and I would normally get three or four, still time I suppose. Have had a leaflet from Fitzer and another from Breahnacht*.

What an uninspiring shower we have to pick from.


Was Declan Breahnacht not in favour or reducing/closing services in the Louth hospital back in the day?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

No callers here yet and I would normally get three or four, still time I suppose. Have had a leaflet from Fitzer and another from Breahnacht*.

What an uninspiring shower we have to pick from.


Was Declan Breahnacht not in favour or reducing/closing services in the Louth hospital back in the day?

No, I recall Breathnach was always pro the Louth hospital and indeed looked to extend the services there.

ShiverinEskimo

The Louth hospital is a disproportionate issue these days. Most of the candidates talking about reopening it are paying lip service as it's unlikely at this stage it will ever be done. Would require massive investment, staffing and modernisation before it could reopen and with the state the HSE is doomed to for the next decade at least that investment would never be made available even if a pro-reopening candidate made it into government. Short of a Louth TD being given the Health minister post, it's pie in the sky stuff at this stage, much as it pains me to say it.

What are people's main concerns about Louth in general? For me it's crime. Breathnach's calls for cross-border crime taskforce resonates well with me. The border is a magical forcefield for criminals as it stands. Would like to see that tackled properly somehow. Depending on how the Brexit deal pans out a flare up of smuggling and cross-border organised crime is very much on the cards.

10green bottles

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

The Louth hospital is a disproportionate issue these days. Most of the candidates talking about reopening it are paying lip service as it's unlikely at this stage it will ever be done. Would require massive investment, staffing and modernisation before it could reopen and with the state the HSE is doomed to for the next decade at least that investment would never be made available even if a pro-reopening candidate made it into government. Short of a Louth TD being given the Health minister post, it's pie in the sky stuff at this stage, much as it pains me to say it.

What are people's main concerns about Louth in general? For me it's crime. Breathnach's calls for cross-border crime taskforce resonates well with me. The border is a magical forcefield for criminals as it stands. Would like to see that tackled properly somehow. Depending on how the Brexit deal pans out a flare up of smuggling and cross-border organised crime is very much on the cards.

Nobody in my area is screaming cross-border crime because local crime and burglary are the main issues.
Garda patrols are minimal(2 squad min per night Dundalk i believe)
Every area has seem a rise in incidents as criminal thugs act with impunity.
Guards cant recruit fast enough and the ERU cant recruit the right people.(there is a report somewhere)
Lets get LOCAL law and order right local 1st before we move on to cross-border l&o

Mr Magnolia

Healthcare in general is the broader issue that is of most concern to me personally. My father in law, a pensioner, who worked and paid tax all his life had to attend Drogehda during the year and ended up lying on the floor in the foetal position in agony as there was no trolleys.

CheerLouth

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

What are people's main concerns about Louth in general?

For me, it's crime - it's frankly scary what is happening in Drogheda of late and seems to be no end in sight and no way to get these scumbags even though the dogs on the street know who they are.

Secondly, it's childcare. We've two children, another on the way. Cost of childcare is crazy but the wages for the staff are so low. Our local creche have also stopped taking children under the age of 2. Neither myself nor my husband can afford to give up work. The Governments solution seems to be to give subsidies to parents - that is absolutely SFA use when there is nowhere to send your child. They need to do something about the childcare industry as a whole.

Lastly, healthcare - how can we tackle the waiting lists and people on trolleys? My grandmother is a guest of OLOL at the minute and while she is lucky to have a bed, they simply don't have the staff to manage the level of patients. The floor she has on has one carer - this means my Grandmother can't get out of bed to have a walk, she can't use the toilet etc because the staff just don't have the time to spend with her.