Do most Irish people not have basic civics education ?

21-08-2021 2:19pm #1

I see a lot of people saying on the journal dot ie etc that the current government is "unelected" and "Illegal"

dudley72 · 21-08-2021 3:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058205131/do-most-irish-people-not-have-basic-civics-education

I wouldn’t worry about it. You see it all over the internet. A load of tosh but it keeps a few people happy

Just a note, they are a nasty wee bunch, best to not comment or you are seen as the enemy

21-08-2021 5:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117784791#Comment_117784791

So by their logic FF would have been in every single government until 2011.

blanch152 · 21-08-2021 10:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117784791#Comment_117784791

They are here too, some posters who claim SF "won" the election and should be in power. The last party that managed to bulldoze its way to power when they were the largest party but not a majority was in Germany in the 1930s.

jay1988 · 21-08-2021 11:49pm

Blueshirts comparing other parties with Nazi's, I've seen it all now 🤣

crooked cockney villain · 22-08-2021 11:07am

Every single election I am always amazed at how many journalists writing about it aren't entirely sure how the whole thing works. And to be honest I'd say plenty of people are slightly in the dark as it isn't laid out clearly anywhere.

Stuff like

how does numbered voting preferences work
Does the party with the largest percentage of votes get first dibs on forming a coalition government or can several smaller parties do it before them
how long can the country exist in limbo when the parties take ages to form a coalition, and what happens if simply no grouping can be forged, is there a time limit before another election would be called

I don't know the answer to the third one myself, and despite the fact we were, what, five or so months without a new government last year, nobody in the media bothered explaining- probably because they didn't know themselves.

Most big events have a sort of explainer written about them, yet elections never do.

22-08-2021 11:17am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117787743#Comment_117787743

It seems to me from last years experience that an outgoing government could go a whole 5 year term if the opposition were to obstain on budgets. The constitution has no provision on what to do in a completely hung dail situation, obviously when Dav and co wrote it, they never saw the day when the largest party would have less than one 3rd of the seats.

Wesser · 22-08-2021 11:18am

A 'civics' education!!??

Allinall · 22-08-2021 11:19am

Belgium went for years without a government.

22-08-2021 11:24am

I think the argument for the populist voters goes something like... Both FG and FF said they'd not go into government with each other pre-election so doing so post election negates the government's legitimacy. If you are 5 years of age it could be a legitimate argument.

Whereas if the populist parties put their policies in place we'd be governed by the IMF in a few years. That might sound appealing 😀 but we'd have to go through hell first.

Donald Trump · 22-08-2021 11:31am

No need to add the "civics" specifier

spurious · 22-08-2021 11:34am

So much for the 'easy' subject CSPE. They don't even know the basics.

sasal · 22-08-2021 11:39am

CSPE wasn't introduced till after my Junior Cert and I'm not sure if it's still there or has been replaced.

I'm not sure a lot of people properly understand the PR voting system or the role of the President.

Voters have a responsibilty too, it doesn't take much to have a read of the constitution or inform themselves on our government systems.

spurious · 22-08-2021 11:43am

CSPE was compulsory in schools 1997 to 2019. That covers many young adults. Of course, it was popular to sneer at it and treat it as a joke subject (and not just among the students).

growleaves · 22-08-2021 2:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058205131/do-most-irish-people-not-have-basic-civics-education

They must be fairly confused so.

Mike Murdock · 23-08-2021 7:16am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117784791#Comment_117784791

True. During the Belfast Rape Trial, I lost count of the amount of people on Twitter, and even here, who thought that Jackson et al were being tried under Irish Law and in this legal jurisdiction.

Shebean · 23-08-2021 5:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117787785#Comment_117787785

We should be so lucky.

Shebean · 23-08-2021 5:37pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117787803#Comment_117787803

Wasn't it FF hassled for not giving more handouts and such by FG, brought in the IMF?

What's 'populism' exactly? Would it be FF saying the boom would get boomier or FG saying an end to cronyism?

Nobody more dishonest and populist than FF/FG IMO.

23-08-2021 8:44pm

I've noticed recently a few of the comments but they're either made by bot accounts or are not Irish.

VinLieger · 26-08-2021 8:38am

Sure you see the same thing with people demanding Michael D not sign certain legislation or that he should disband the Dail because of some random issue, he is severely limited on his power to do either by the consitution as our presidents main purpose when it comes to this area is as a constitutional brake, too many people think its similar to the US presidential powers. Then theres all the calls for having a referendum on this or that tiny issue, you ask them how or why we should change our constitution for this issue and you get a blank stare back and them asking why we need to change our constitution when they are only calling for a referendum to change the law.....

26-08-2021 9:35am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117804682#Comment_117804682

Yep I remember when the water charges bill was passed, you had the AAA-PBP fools and others saying that M.D Higgins should refer the legislation to the supreme court😂

Do most Irish people not have basic civics education ?

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