Exit poll: The post referendum thread. No electioneering.

ELM327 wrote: »

If it was against the rules they wouldn't have been on the electoral register and thus would have been ineligible to vote.

They were on the register from a time when they used to live here but their eligibility has lapsed. My brother is still on the register and he emigrated 15 years ago. He is not eligible.

Lots of emigrants received voting cards even though the 18 month time limit had lapsed. Any of those who went ahead and voted, did so illegally.

ELM327 wrote: »

I hope you reported him for electoral fraud so.
If he is ineligible he should have informed the relevant council

How is it electoral fraud if he didn't vote?

ELM327 wrote: »

He's still listed as on the register.
If he's not eligible to vote he should have informed the council.

I presume there's lots of people still on the register who don't even know they're still listed. Are they behaving illegally as well?

ELM327 wrote: »

Zing.


Seriously, put down the phone, your desperation is showing

What desperation?

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

nobody is stopping you from saying anything. In the same vein there is nothing stopping us mocking the same nonsense that didnt fool the electorate. Your opinions are not precious. They are open to ridicule.

What opinions?

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

As I have said in my original post in this thread I have suffered my far share of physical pain and I got over it.

So because you injured yourself at some point before, women should have to go through unwanted pregnancies, including in circumstances like incest and rape?

Like I said, it's not a good look nor something to try and claim the moral high ground over, as you are.

By voting no I thought I was contributing to the greater good - I don't really know what else you expect me to do as a voter.

What happened to it being because you didn't like a yes campaigner? As you said "I was veering slightly towards yes (savita case in particular), when a conversation with a yes campaigner(at the door) made me a definite no!"

However assuming that you were indeed voting no before having a disagreement with someone, what is this greater good? Forcing women to go through pregnancies they do not want and that could quite often be dangerous for them, while contributing absolutely nothing back in return or in terms of assistance? It's just offering others up for sacrifice and trying to claim some kind of credit for it.

As I said before are you going to help perform abortions because you voted yes?

If I volunteered myself to a doctor who performs abortions, I would be told no as I have no qualifications; you know this.

However, I do work with disadvantaged and at-risk children in my job and outside of it. Every day I see the results of these unwanted pregnancies. Parents with drug problems (often developed during unwanted pregnancies, as heroin seems to kill the pain of carrying your rapists' offspring), children left neglected and born with huge disabilities causing them to become suicidal except for the fact that they are too physically incapacitated to do it themselves. Imagine spending every minute of your life just hoping you were dead, but not even being able to kill yourself.

I see the children shunted from foster home to foster home, creating massive mental health issues early in their lives about why nobody wants them. I see the children sent into residential group homes. I see these children written off from before they're old enough to ride a bicycle as "the scum of the earth" despite having done nothing but be born into horrendous circumstances. I see these children progress to Oberstown. I see these kids move on from Oberstown to a life of homelessness, addiction, crime and prison. Just the other week I got to see my first 'full cycle' case, where a kid we had in care has now given birth to another child who will inevitably wind up in care... and it's a suspected rape baby from a family friend. Just nine months of a few little pains though, right? Sure she's all of 15 years old, she'll barely even remember the whole thing by the end of the summer.

That newborn child is almost surely not getting adopted by the way, especially when there is such a shortage of adoptive and foster parents that the odds were heavily against them from the moment they were born. They'll get bounced around from one group home to another, back to mammy, back away from mammy, with the grandparents, back to strangers, and so on and so on... and somewhere in the early 2030's it's extremely likely they'll be having a child of their own to add to the mix. We did a fostering drive about two months ago across much of the south Dublin area, trying to get more people involved in fostering. Do you know how many people got back? Six. Six people got back.

Yet you seem not only fine for that to be the case, but to also try and consider yourself virtuous for looking to keep that in place, because not only did you injure yourself before, but you also didn't like someone who called to your door. I would advise you to put a bit more thought in, in future.

You know what I don't see? No campaigners trying to offer assistance, nor will from almost any no voters so eagerly virtue signalling about 'the greater good' to give any help whatsoever. A lot of companies do offer assistance, from the ones specifically there to help these children, to others that quietly offer funding, facilities or supports and ask for no thanks for it. Yet the likes of Iona or LoveBoth? We never heard a peep from them that I am aware of. It would have been a great PR move for them to do during the campaign, but I can tell you if they did we certainly didn't hear a thing from it here - and we work in child protection. Maybe now that the campaign is over they will focus their efforts into assisting parents and children in these situations, but let's be real here - we all know that is extremely unlikely at best.

These are often the people that cannot get to the UK for abortions because they cannot afford to, or are underage hiding the likes of rape babies from their families and being terrified for every moment of it as to what to do. Many of them don't have a clue about the pills at all, as they often barely attended school if at all as children and are often barely literate (again, if at all). By voting yes so overwhelmingly as a nation, we have now hopefully given these women and children and actual avenue out to assist with. Yet you not only voted to not allow them this opportunity, but added to that are not bothered anything in return, and are somehow trying to claim a "greater good" from this? It beggars belief, to be honest.

If you want to contribute to there being more disadvantaged, neglected, unwanted and abused children in the world you could at least do something to help them. You do not need to be highly qualified to assist in these areas, or to be qualified at all depending on how you wish to contribute. I would strongly encourage you to put your money where your mouth is about creating a greater good in this country.