Would you support a new Rural Political Party

Bangoverthebar

Would you support a new Rural Political Party.

I would, but would like it to be independent of the ifa, icmsa, beef plan etc.

If should represent all rural ireland not be fragmented into tillage or dairy interests and the like.

A couple of things i would support in a manifesto.

- No government support for Lobby groups (an taisce)

- full financial disclosure of funding recieved and if coming from shell companies the true owner of same must be disclosed.

- any enviromental policy changes to be relfected across all industry and society and farming not carry the lions share of change/hardship.

- a complete stop put on the changes placed on the livestock sector until the rest of industry caught up.

Siamsa Sessions

Who would you get to stand for election?

mr.stonewall

It could be similar to the protest vote with sinn fein at the last election. I get the feeling that many in FF and FG would be really worried if a rural part were to get a bit of momentum going into a general election.

I personally would support one

alps

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058294224/would-you-support-a-new-rural-political-party

What do you mean by support?

Once you've found this faultless foolproof ideal candidate, will you..

Put your hand in your pocket to fund their expenses and time missed from work?

Fundraise?

Canvess every evening after work?

Go to meetings to formulate and direct policy programmes?

Present yourself to your friends and colleagues as this candidate's supporter?

Or do you mean give them a vote?

Bangoverthebar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120528125#Comment_120528125

I would back a rural party as you suggest or should we just lie down and get bowled over by the green agenda.

I for one and am sick or hearing enviro experts on our national airways spewing lies and saying Agri is the biggest polluter.

Total bull shite, Fosil fuel use is the biggest polluter but its segemented into transport, energy etc to male it look like only a minor problem.

No politican is faultless.

I want to farm for my life and i want my son to farm, if he wants to for his life. We needs less government not more.

Bangoverthebar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120527742#Comment_120527742

Plenty of clever articulated people in all aspects of farming.

ESetter

I would reckon that its not just farmers that would vote for a rural political party. Rural people are very fed up of the anti rural stance taken by this govt. We can do nothing right in their eyes

alps

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120528377#Comment_120528377

Fair play👍

endainoz

It would make zero difference against those policies you mentioned, they're mostly EU directives anyway. It's pretty much a guarantee the greens will not be in the next government, but this so called green agenda is going absolutely nowhere.

Barring a major surprise, the next government will be a left leaning coalition comprising of Sinn Fein, Labour, Social Democrats and PBP. None of these seem to care much about rural Ireland. Social democrats in particular seem to be hell bent on demonising horse, and dog racing amongst other rural centric things.

This rural party craic is stuff pushed but the likes of the healy raes who are bigger gangsters than anyone in the Dail.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058294224/would-you-support-a-new-rural-political-party

any enviromental policy changes to be relfected across all industry and society and farming not carry the lions share of change/hardship.

Lions share 🙄, I'd love to know how you're measuring that as argiculture has the lowest % reduction to achieve and will remain the highest in terms of emissions by a country mile. So much so that other sectors of the economy have to pick up the slack

Like a lot of things in life my answer is "it depends".

I'm glad in the title it's framed as a "rural party", I think that's more important than anything. I've heard "farmers party" mentioned and that's just a bad result waiting to happen.

It would depend on the proposed policies.

But, for a party with a positive view and able candidates I'd vote for, and canvass for them.

I think the biodiversity strategy and the nature restoration law are existential threats to my way of life. Adversaries will frame that as preferring to burn down the planet when it is not, I simply disagree with the new religions masquerading as science.

Michael Fitzmaurice is an able operator and he's correct to say the programme for Government is where it's at. We're either at the table or outside the door, I think where we're at right now is clearly outside the door.

FG & FF politicians are largely no longer interested, I'd argue they haven't been for some time. A lot of politicians on the so called left are openly, maybe ignorantly, anti farming.

Just for balance, farming itself does itself no favours a lot of the time, including our lobby groups.

SuperTortoise

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120529219#Comment_120529219

Farmland is a carbon sink, you should be thanking us for storing all of your carbon emissions for you. We should be charging you for the privilege except policy makers are as corrupt as the day is long and nobody counts carbon capture from farmland.

No other industry you listed can claim to capture more carbon that it emits.

You'll have to try a bit harder next time pinning the blame on Irish agriculture.

Jim_Hodge

That's not a rural party, it's a farmers party. I live in a very rural area but less than 10% of people in the area have anything to do with agriculture. Rural areas need more specific representation but it cannot be dictated by farming interests only.

Furze99

I might/ likely would but can see problems in that rural Ireland is really quite diverse with multiple issues. There are however some big interest groups in that mix and these could / would inevitably dominate the agendas and policies, leading to others being side lined.

There's a bunch of rural independents there as a core but some chancers in there and I doubt if all could pull together for more than a couple of days.

Birdnuts

Don't think it will go anywhere - majority of larger/intensive farmers will still vote FFG. I also think it will be the next CAP that will shape the future of farming post 2028 and no one in the sector here appears to be aware or awake to that, lest of all the main farming orgs who seem to think the CAP budget will just keep expanding as the EU expands, to maintain the current bloated structure that just favours big agri business, while farmer numbers, farmland environmental quality etc. continues to decline across the block.

Birdnuts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120529346#Comment_120529346

Very true - rural Ireland is very different now to what it was only a few decades ago. Many living there now have no connection to farming and are unlikely to be that motivated on agendas that the likes of the IFA want to push

Siamsa Sessions

How soon before this thread descends into a slagging match?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120529482#Comment_120529482

Sez you....

endainoz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120529482#Comment_120529482

Probably in the next couple of hours once more of the usual suspects see it trending....

Furze99

What might work better is a party dedicated to a region e.g. we live in the general south east and despite being fairly heavily populated, it's largely ignored in terms of public services and state investment. So could see that being attractive.

ruwithme

Was a lad got elected as a td for this constituency some decades back, based on it being the pothole capital of ireland. Another lad some year's later on a hospital closure issue.

The hospital closed anyway & we're still the capital for potholes.

John_Rambo

I'd imagine the party would be on the back foot from the get go representing a minority vote grouping although they'd garner a bit of support from urbanites originally from rural areas, but that would change as they got older and want to vote for improvement in the area they're rearing their kids.

A party concentrating on only one sector of the community is a tough call. All encompassing ones will have an advantage.

1848

The history of Farmers parties is poor - Farmers party in the early days of the state merged with Cumann na nGael to form Fine Gael in early 1930's & Clann na Talmhan in 1940-50's also disappeared. That was at a time when there were many more farmers than now. Proposed party smacks of populism - poorly developed ideas aimed at attracting votes. Look what Brexit & Trump have created & indeed the failure of Beef Plan in recent years here - all based on populism. Farmers need to influence the policies of the centrist parties - Fine Gael & Fianna Fail. Any party to succeed needs to have coherent strategies. Water quality is one of the first issues to tackle for agriculture. Improving water quality will take the pressure off agriculture - change in practices regarding slurry storage & application, reduced chemical fertilizer, buffer zones along watercourses etc. This has already been demonstrated e.g. Agricultural catchments programme in west Cork.

Packrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120529229#Comment_120529229

As close to what I'd have liked to have written myself.

130,000 farmers spread across a country of maybe 2.5 million voters can't elect candidates.

As someone else said, many already have strong party loyalties which they won't drop.

I'd vote for a good version of a rural/farmers party but I think they'd be a bit player in the long term.

Many in urban society have bought ERs bullsh1t to some degree where few of them would support a rural/farming party.

Doomed to failure I think.

Bangoverthebar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120530575#Comment_120530575

Im not sure it would be doomed to failure in the short term. It would not take many seats to have a voice.

There are loads of issues for a genuine rural life focused agenda and i think people are sick of the Status quo.

Like any small business idea, you never know what you can achieve if you sit on your hands and do nothing.

mr.stonewall

So many constituencies across the country are often too tight to call for the last seat in them. They would be transfer friendly grouping in rural areas and this would be the difference. A group that could pull 10-20 seats at the next election from a standing start would have the potential to be king makers having upset the status quo just look at the greens at the formation of the last government.

While people are often set in their roots to party lines, this grouping could be transfer friendly. People want a different option. We only have to look the last presidential election and see what Peter Casey did from nowhere to second with the views of the silent majority. It could be easier to do this with a solo candidate, doing this will a group and holding the ethos of the group together will be vital, if they are to succeed

Clear message and everyone on the same page

Greengrass53

I couldn't possibly vote for someone who pays such little attention to their dental hygiene

screamer

I think the current proposal is too farmer orientated. There are far more people in the countryside than farmers and I wouldn’t like a new party to just be about them. Rural Ireland and policies in it need some joined up thinking, because right now it’s push everyone into urban homes, where services are under huge pressure already. Jobs are concentrated in those areas, but with hybrid working we are seeing huge growth in asking prices in the countryside where rural wages cannot compete with urban wages. Planning permission is also a huge issue, and these are just a sample of things. Overall I am suppportive, id like to see a bit more inclusion and I am utterly fed up of what we have sitting in the dail at the moment, on both sides of the trough.

Grueller

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120530690#Comment_120530690

This post is very correct in that the countryside is in serious danger of becoming gentrified. Only the wealthy can afford to buy in it and if planning permissions disappear then where do the next generation of rural families go? I would be inclined to vote for a rural party.

Grueller

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120530673#Comment_120530673

How very enlightened and open minded

older by the day

And let's say they get 15 to 20 seats. What then, would they go for a left government SF, social democratics, people b4 profit. Hardly.. so would they join a FF FF government.

It's a lot easier to be a hurler on the ditch. If I had a safe independent seat I would hold on to it, than be a stools weak leg.