Local/ EU elections who will you Vote for

Real Donald Trump

What is top of your concerns when it comes to vote? I'm undecided myself atm

skimpydoo

None of the government parties will get my vote. I am leaning towards voting for Independents.

My top concerns are health, housing and cronyism.

Real Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088012#Comment_122088012

Swinging towards Independent myself, but my local rep who is FG has being quite vocal about the immigration crisis and tourism. Tough decisions ahead.

skimpydoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088017#Comment_122088017

I am not sure who my local reps so will have to do some online research.

RetroEncabulator

For the first time in ever I’m a bit stumped.
Honestly not really feeling like voting for any of the candidates in Ireland South. Genuinely haven’t a clue who to even give even my first preference to this time around.

SupaCat95

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088019#Comment_122088019

Well they have all been fairly quiet up recently. I wouldnt vote for any currently sitting MEP or Councillor. They didnt see this developing? I had my awakening 15 years ago travelling. I will vote for any candidate previously unelected personality. They knew this was coming if not part of the plan. All their buddies are running IPAS accomodation through shell companies.

Major concerns are law and order, accomodation and defense. They are all either asleep at the wheel or part of the corruption.

Peregrinus

Not really sure that defence or immigration are areas in which local government has any function at all. A candidate in local elections who is promising action or pledging results in these areas is taking you for a ride. Focus on the candidates whose agenda revolves around matterst that local governments deal with. Give your lowest preferences to the fantasists and the grandstanders.

whisky_galore

Lot of people looking at Independents as they feel the centralised main parties do little or nothing for them, outside of big business and big property.

Fr Tod Umptious

When it comes to local elections party affiliation goes out the window for me.

I vote for the candidates that are best for my area.

I live on the edge of a large rural Electorial Area so I tend to vote for the candidates that are based closer to me than the ones at the other end of the EA, regardless of party.

If you want to protest vote, do it in the European elections.

prunudo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088098#Comment_122088098

And there is the problem with the Irish system, only vote for who you want. You don't need to go all the way 1-20. If you only like 2 canidates, vote for them, no one else. Don't waste time going lowest preferences.

ToweringPerformance

Was SF for me like all previous elections but not a snowballs chance in hell now given how they've championed immigrant rights. Will be Niall Boylan for his Irish people first approach and the anti free speech legislation opposition.

Ronald Binge Redux

No FG candidate in my LEA so far. Will then vote No 1 for the very good and hard working FF local Councillor. There are a number of declared independents but I want to look deeper before any get a preference. The local SF Councillor works hard and will get a good preference as well.

magicbastarder

I live in Dublin city council territory so will be prioritising candidates from parties who don't keep voting to keep the property tax down (and then claim they've secured funding for whatever initiative they want to take credit for).

I think it's just GP and Labour who have voted to charge the full rate.

If you live in DCC territory, this may be useful.

https://dublinvoterguide2024.ie/

Ronald Binge Redux

In the European Elections there are a massive number of candidates but Putin apologists, 'Ireland is Full' loolahs, Holy Catholic Ireland nostalgists and fascists are guaranteed not to get a preference from me. There are too many fringe candidates to vote all the way down the paper as I don't want any vote of mine to hit on them by accident.

Boggles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088225#Comment_122088225

SF have always been pro "immigrant rights".

Boylan is running for Boylan, he couldn't give a toss about you or Irish people. He cares about his "celebrity".

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088212#Comment_122088212

You need only assign preferences to as many candidates as you actually have a preferences; you can leave the rest blank. But, two points about that:

1. This isn't a "problem with the Irish system"; it's a strength. Here in Australia you're supposed to express preferences all the way down. This has the result that, if you can't form a preference between the Monarchist White Residents God Save The King Party and the Law & Order Loyalty and Traditional Values Party, neither of which you know anything about, you either have to assign them random preferences or risk your strongly-felt first preference for Labour or Liberal or the Greens or whoever being disregarded because you have spoiled your vote.
2. The preferences you can express include negative preferences. If you loathe two candidates, but loathe one of them a bit more than the other, you can reflect that in your preferences. The only candidates you should leave with no preference at all are those among whom you are completely indifferent; you would be equally happy, or equally unhappy, to be represented by any of them.

StrawbsM

The MEP list for my area looks like this….

Necro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088142#Comment_122088142

I think there's too many independents running and that's going to split the vote too thin across the board, meaning eventually the established parties will benefit from transfers. Certainly the case in Midlands-North West anyways with 9 Independents running alongside a scatter of 'parties that aren't really parties'.

prunudo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088342#Comment_122088342

ah right, i thought you saying list them all out. We'll have to agree to disagree though, I don't give anyone I loathe a vote.

fuzzy dunlop

I wanted to post this here earlier nut couldn't find the thread when I logged on again. I think Stephen Collins is worried that the plebs might vote for someone he doesn't approve of.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2024/04/19/irish-voters-must-realise-that-sending-characters-to-strasbourg-could-harm-our-country/

Bobson Dugnutt

FG, Labour and Green Party candidates.

I really hope that appalling woman, Clare Daly, loses her seat. Same with Wallace. Flanagan is absolutely useless and just a man of unrelenting negativity, but I’d imagine his voting record is more to do with just being a contrary auld bollocks rather than anything more sinister.

Who we send to Europe is important.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088212#Comment_122088212

This exactly.

Another poster said "Give your lowest preferences to the fantasists and the grandstanders".

Surely you wouldn't give them a vote at all? Why would you give a vote to someone you think is a fantasist?

prunudo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088391#Comment_122088391

FG, Labour and Green Party candidates

Who we send to Europe is important

I needed a good laugh this morning 😆

Montage of Feck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088212#Comment_122088212

But that takes the fun out of the PR system for me.

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088358#Comment_122088358

Could be. Of course, it's in the nature of independents that they don't really care how their candidacy affects other candidates — they don't have any common platform with other candidates. Any benefit their candidacy may have for the established parties doesn't bother them, so they won't agree with you that, if such a benefit eventuates, that means there was "too many independents".

downtheroad

2 people have called to my door canvassing for my vote for local elections.

1. Social Democrat sitting councillor who kept telling me that DCC are slow at getting anything done, wh3n I asked her why a local playground still hasn't been built despite it being promised last year. In fairness she took my email address and followed up recently with updates on the project.
2. Sinn Fein candidate who I respectfully told would not be getting a vote from our household. He politely thanked me for my honesty, but never asked why.

Our local government in this country tend to be fairly powerless. Not sure it matters who gets elected really, and ithe elected councillors tend to end up being a general mix of the main parties in my LEA.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088403#Comment_122088403

that's mischaracterising what happens when you're deciding between say #20 and #21 in your preferences - you're not voting 'for' a candidate, you're stating a preference. at that stage you're indicating who you dislike more.

it's highly unlikely your preferences that far down will have any effect, but i usually vote to the end.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088389#Comment_122088389

I don't always agree with Stephen's viewpoint but on this occasion I agree with him.

Our representation in the EU matters.

Beechwoodspark

Not sure but I can tell u one thing - won’t be voting FF FG Green SF Lab Soc Dem or the loony left.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058349948/local-eu-elections-who-will-you-vote-for

In the local elections I will vote for the best person to represent my views on local issues.

I'll go all the way down the list, a few old reliables and a couple of promising newcomers will be near the top.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088431#Comment_122088431

to give credit to the SocDems - i've just confirmed that they were one of the three parties who voted (unsuccessfully) to bring LPT to standard levels for dublin. DCC is operating at something like 90% nominal headcount, which fosters an 'urgent driving out the important' way of running the organisation, i suspect. a lot of that headcount shortfall is a result of not being able to employ technical staff like engineers, etc.

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dublin/2023/10/02/dublin-city-councillors-vote-to-leave-rate-of-local-property-tax-unchanged-for-2024/