The decline of FG?

Yeh I agree. Opinions vary. So what? It’s a discussion forum with many opinions. Funny yours needs SF to make sense of things or is it look over there and not at us?
I think SF have very little to do wirh FG’s decline as stated.

With respect I don't find this comment pleasant or funny given the topic being discussed and the large numbers of the population affected as cited by ESRI and SVP.

SF were mentioned to make a legitimate point,the folly of their no 1 supporter here going on about vote loss by a government party during the worst downturn & austerity ever vs what seems to be happening to the chief opposition party after 5 more years of government by their opponents,which is a worse political performance,its all about context?

As I said glass houses etc

We routinely get all sorts of suggestions about what SF need to do to improve their vote, not least from you. Ditch Gerry, ditch MLMD, turn their back on their past, etc etc.

What do FG need to do to arrest the decline in their vote and end the dependence on FF who might try to distinguish themselves as a different party at any time.

The funny thing is,they appear to have done something to arrest it already,you know like dump their leader? You'd swear by you they were in mortal decline or something

Problem for people of your persuasion is,it's blatantly obvious they're not,no matter how much you say it?

Cue...protest 'I never used the words mortal decline' or some such diversion tactic nonsense, like the protest earlier from you about the how is everything so terrible when everything is so good,question I posed to you and you didn't want to answer,upthread

Their vote isn't 24% though. That's as flimsy as SF's 35% was.

As @pureza has mentioned 'mortal decline' what actual vote percentage is mortal decline for FG?

*Pretty poor ambition there BTW. If the goal is as suspected by some and known by many 'just keep the shinners out' and cling to power with who ever, I personally don't think that is sustainable tbh.

You did not answer

You just said you didn't say things were terrible and deflected like mad in some effort to avoid why things are so good

Lets be clear Fine Gael had 27% of the vote in 1989

35 years later,4 or 5 months before an election,after 13 years in government,polls have them at 24% and poised to be returned,fierce decline that I don't think?

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael working together is a seismic change in the way this country was governed by the way,no two ways about it and if its what the public want,it will be with both eyes open now which is democracy isn t it

The biggest mistake in this thread and some of the others is the title

Titles should by virtue of whats inevitable,have a set template "lets bash [insert party name here]"

Fair enough on the title of the thread, is it referring to opinion polls or actual elections? If it is elections it probably accurate, FG lost seats at the recent local election where most other parties made gains. For general elections, FG has lost a significant number of seats in each subsequent election since entering government in 2011.

I think my comment is valid regarding the thread title,this is the Fine Gael bashing thread with various forays into it by the Sinn Féin haters

It's all just noise really

I think also my comment regarding whats been happening in voting over the last 40 years is the introduction of options

Variety

Whats more interesting is the centre,steady as you go nature of the vote in that its the centre variety of options that are doing best isn't it including FF ,FG and their various connected/related gene pools

Anyway,I'll leave ye all at it,4's enough to play this posting tat tit without me for now ,have fun lads

FG core vote was always 20-25%, they seldom went significantly below it in the last 100 years. At time they popped above it to form coalition government's.

In 2011 after the crash it recieved a significant number of FF/floating votes. In the 80's it was the main beneficiary if the floating vote, this transfered to Dick Spring labour party in the 90's.

They transferred back to FFfor the noughtirs. After the 2010 crash a significant cohort of not just the floating but a FF vote as well transfered to Labour and FG. I'm 2016 FG held there core and a bit with it as FF recovered. SF and Ind took the fickle floating vote and held it in the 2020 election. FG held its core more or less and FF took some of its vote back. FF will not recover to its hey day of a 35%+ core vote but will hold a center left core of 20ish% for tge next election

Now as the parties stand it looks like FG will hit the 25%. Not only that FF/FG gene pool hold another 10-15% of the vote. I be watching these transfers I'm the election to see do they transfer to FG/FF or to the left.

At 45% combined and with the left splitting a 40% vote into 5-6 factions FF/FG will hit an overall majority they will hit 90 seats

SF will probably drop 5+ seats and it could be significantly worse if the stand too many candidates

But what political arrangements are 'sustainable' in the long or even medium term anyway? 

I am one of those lost voters. And I have not ruled out voting for them again.
What I won't vote for is a combination of both of them designed simply to hold onto power. That, I am positive, will not be sustainable and at some point the electorate will tire of it.

BS. The 44% under Garrett Fitzgerald was a one off anomaly. Before that FG hovered between 20-30%. They never before attained 44% and never did again and at 44% I think could barely form a government.

Can we say that SF are In permanent decline because they were at 35% and now back below 20%.

You have too much time on your hand stop sitting inside go foa walk and a pint.

a combination of both of them designed simply to hold onto power. That, I am positive, will not be sustainable and at some point the electorate will tire of it.

But this still isn't saying anything: electorates tire of all political parties and alliances at some point. I've sketched out what looks to me a plausible scenario of FF & FG serving two further terms in some form of partnership, taking FG up close to 25 years in consecutive power if those governments go anywhere near full term. IMO if they achieve that FG's decision to pursue alliance with FF from 2016 will have been entirely vindicated, irrespective of what comes after…

I doubt it,since over 90% of them are at home,maybe do some basic research before posting such crap ?

https://www.statista.com/statistics/710767/irish-population-by-age/

https://www.thejournal.ie/emigration-poll-thejournal-6375309-May2024/

Emigration at it’s highest since 2015 which was probably near the peak of the austerity caused by the party FG said should never be in charge of finance again. Who is the MoF again?