Young Fine Gael

Trotter

Im curious to know if theres any members of Young Fine Gael here on boards.. Ive decided to take my usual rant at the TV while watching political programmes and do something more constructive.

Fine Gael seem to be the party that Id be most alligned to. Id like to see what the organisation is like, and what membership involves.

Im 24 so I presume Id be better off in YFG than in the general membership end of the organisation.

Any info is appreciated!

(Cue the AH dont join them.. join *insert part here* instead).

de5p0i1er

I'm a member of the Castlebar branch, If You want to join check out the party website and You should be able to find what you need from there.

Time Magazine

Ah our wonderful PRO Simon would be proud as punch if you join Castlebar!

Yep, presuming you're not in college you should join your local branch, whereabouts is that? The website's pretty crap at the moment.

You're joining at a good time socially, as there should be a good amount of preparation this summer for the Generals, and Comrade Kenny has called on us all to canvass every door before the year is out.

Depending on where you live, you might want to consider joining the Senior Party as well/instead. You're 24, and there are TD's who are 30ish so there's no big shocks there. But I expect you'll be able to join your local YFG no probs.

If you're a bit stuck, send me a pm.

hill16

Fine Gael/DUP no thanks.

toiletduck

i thought young *insert party here* were only for college students?

tim3115

Weren't the Young FG the ones who suggested that we should drop the drinking age to 16?



haha

aodh_rua

YFG aren't just a college movement - there are plenty of branches around the country. I'd say at 24 you should contact your local branch too. I'm 25 and a constituency officer so there's no barriers because of your age.

mycroft

aodh_rua wrote:

YFG aren't just a college movement - there are plenty of branches around the country. I'd say at 24 you should contact your local branch too. I'm 25 and a constituency officer so there's no barriers because of your age.

If you're not a rebel aged 19 you have no heart,

If you're not establishment by 30 you have no head.

Don't ya'll think you've got a few more years of storming the barricades and intellectual idealism before you join the party of the blueshirt, barristers, gardai and the parish priest?

Trotter

mycroft wrote:

If you're not a rebel aged 19 you have no heart,

If you're not establishment by 30 you have no head.

Don't ya'll think you've got a few more years of storming the barricades and intellectual idealism before you join the party of the blueshirt, barristers, gardai and the parish priest?

lol.. I thought Id have been slated much more by now!
Personally , I just dont like how the country is run at the moment. Im no Greeny so that rules them out.. FF/PDs just annoy me more and more lately, leaving Labour and FG as the main options.

And.. FG seems to have a more vibrant youth culture coming through..so theres my reasons. That and I think a lot of their stuff makes sense..

but most of all.. I like their effort!! Im not a very political alligned person, like I dont come from a political family background etc. I just like the thoughts of having something to do with fixing the things that are wrong in this country.

Im not gonna achieve that shaking my head at Bertie on the TV.

Besides Ive a dodgy knee, the barricade storming wouldnt do me any good at all

mycroft

Trotter wrote:

lol.. I thought Id have been slated much more by now!
Personally , I just dont like how the country is run at the moment. Im no Greeny so that rules them out.. FF/PDs just annoy me more and more lately, leaving Labour and FG as the main options.

And.. FG seems to have a more vibrant youth culture coming through..so theres my reasons. That and I think a lot of their stuff makes sense..

but most of all.. I like their effort!! Im not a very political alligned person, like I dont come from a political family background etc. I just like the thoughts of having something to do with fixing the things that are wrong in this country.

Im not gonna achieve that shaking my head at Bertie on the TV.

Besides Ive a dodgy knee, the barricade storming wouldnt do me any good at all

You're probably too young to have seen Fine Gael a family at war, and then you'd realise that the party has a fine history of corrupt chancers politcal infighting, and nepotism and garnering political power for the sake of it, they're Fianna Fail with different window dressing is all, they only look appealing after a decade plus of Fianna Fail coalitions.

gom

Why FG? What about their policies do you like? The absolute blind love of the farming subsidy?

goto Political Compass and have a go.

Trotter

mycroft wrote:

You're probably too young to have seen Fine Gael a family at war, and then you'd realise that the party has a fine history of corrupt chancers politcal infighting, and nepotism and garnering political power for the sake of it, they're Fianna Fail with different window dressing is all, they only look appealing after a decade plus of Fianna Fail coalitions.

Fair enough, but show me a party that dosnt have chancers. If I used that criteria for finding a party, I dont know if Id find one.

mycroft

Trotter wrote:

Fair enough, but show me a party that dosnt have chancers. If I used that criteria for finding a party, I dont know if Id find one.

So basically our bastards are better than the other bastards.

Wow mighty fine logic to use to find a party you can affix your political flag to.

Trotter

gom wrote:

Why FG? What about their policies do you like? The absolute blind love of the farming subsidy?

goto Political Compass and have a go.

I did the political compass, and I came back central enough to go either way. I think Fine Gaels policies make sense. I come from a rural background, not farming, but I live in the city now. I know the massive benefits of being part of a rural community. I can see it from both sides.

I could be here forever justifying my choice no matter what party I choose anyway. Im still reading through policy documents and theres nothing yet that disgusts me!

Like I said, its FGs culture at their youth level that interests me. I get the impression they are rebuilding from the ground up. Id like to be part of it.

Trotter

mycroft wrote:

So basically our bastards are better than the other bastards.

Wow mighty fine logic to use to find a party you can affix your political flag to.

Hey you're right!! I'll be in your gang instead!!

You think that because I havent put all of my reasons on boards, it means I dont have other reasons?

Heres a reason for you. My Grandad is in hospital, he can barely move. Who bothered visited my Grandmother? A local FG TD. Thats one reason.. I have many more, but I dont have the time to be putting my own policy document on here so that you can "assess" my motives.

I find FG to be trying hard, they work excellently when constituents have a problem, and their effort is first rate at the moment.

I'll stick my flag where I like!

bonkey

Trotter wrote:

Heres a reason for you. My Grandad is in hospital, he can barely move. Who bothered visited my Grandmother? A local FG TD. Thats one reason..

Heh. Looks like it worked even better than expected. Its not just "visit relative of sick person, and maybe pick up some sympathy votes", but here they've gotten a new party member out of it too.

I'm assuming, of course, that the TD didn't actually do anything, other than perhaps comment on how saddened he/she was about how p1ss-poor a job the current lot were doing re: health, and......well.....we've all heard the rest.

I have many more, but I dont have the time to be putting my own policy document on here so that you can "assess" my motives.

So your original post wasn't an invitation to actually discuss the topic....more just a personal asking the YFG'ers to get in touch?

I'm not saying you're wrong to do so....I'm just trying to be clear what this thread is about.

I find FG to be trying hard, they work excellently when constituents have a problem, and their effort is first rate at the moment.

What about their success rate? Is all of this effort actually achieving anything, other than making them look more involved?

jc

aodh_rua

bonkey wrote:

Heh. Looks like it worked even better than expected. Its not just "visit relative of sick person, and maybe pick up some sympathy votes", but here they've gotten a new party member out of it too.

I'm assuming, of course, that the TD didn't actually do anything, other than perhaps comment on how saddened he/she was about how p1ss-poor a job the current lot were doing re: health, and......well.....we've all heard the rest.

What do you expect them to do? Contrary to how some TD's might see themselves, politicians can't make the lame walk and the blind see. Having the courtesy to pay a visit and stop to talk for a minute seems like quite a touching thing to do.

What about their success rate? Is all of this effort actually achieving anything, other than making them look more involved?

Well in purely electoral terms FG now have approximately the same number of council seats as FF, and more MEP's having beaten FF in last year's Euro elections - I'd say that's a fair indication of success.

Trotter

Ok lets clear this stuff up.

1. Yes, this thread was meant to be me asking for information about what Young Fine Gael was like, and how it all worked... its good to hear what individuals who are in an organisation think of it.

I didnt ask for anyone to change my mind or criticise me for asking, although, on boards people often take a request for information as an excuse to argue. Im not looking for an argument.. Its information Im after.

2. I asked more than one of my grandparents TDs to talk to my grandmother about issues we wanted to discuss. The FG TD was the one that made most effort to come out and discuss it. That impressed me. (The TD isnt my local TD, Im a good 4 or 5 constituencies away)

3. The fact that the TD visited did not make me suddenly jump up and say oh I'll be in what you're in. Im not a stupid person, there were plenty of factors in my decision to look for information on FG. Note I havent joined yet. I intend to.

4. Can the cynics go start a thread on something else to argue about? Im just looking for proper information on what an organisation is like... how often do they meet in my area, how active is the organisation, how do they listen to members opinions etc.

Time Magazine

Trotter, one piece of advice I'll give you is to expect non-party politics-followers to call you every name under the sun and to try and to try and prove that party politics does nothing for this country . It does get disheartening, but then again so is everything is politics.

With regard 'A Family At War', it made some good points but it must have been directed by Tarantino!

But don't worry, it's way more fun slagging Shinners when you're in a group .

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

aodh_rua wrote:

Well in purely electoral terms FG now have approximately the same number of council seats as FF, and more MEP's having beaten FF in last year's Euro elections - I'd say that's a fair indication of success.

great success alright - bit weak in the Kildare area though

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

someone should sort that out for them

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

but who ?

magpie

You could be like that Olwyn Enright bint who had her mush/beak in all over the shop after the last election, but has fallen strangely silent of late.