Cork South Central - General Election 2024

The new Soc Dems Cllr, Padraig Rice, is quite active and has nabbed a number of Echo headlines. There also seems to be heady ad buys on his / Soc Dems end on Instagram etc. He came in third in the local elections, so that will be curious.

The list seems to have a lot of current TDs, Senators & Cllrs. Surely they will have a step up over the newbie candidates as one would assume they would have a degree of name recognition the others wouldn't.

Martin and McGrath are certainties.

O'Laoghaire should also be safe bar an utter collapse by SF - they even gave him a running mate that is zero threat to him whatsoever (she polled 11th in the locals, behind another SF candidate).

I suspect that Shane O'Callaghan will get a seat for FG. Buttimer will be glad to have gotten his Bishopstown heartland back but he may be yesterday's man.

The 5th seat is where things get interesting. Doesn't look like there is any strong Independent candidate who could threaten to win a seat. With FF/FG already having 3 seats locked up it's difficult to see them having enough left over to win a fourth seat. On that basis I think it'll be between Rice and Harmon since the centre-left lane is wide open (and Oikeh shouldn't offer any real threat)

I'm not talking to any canvassers until the manifestos come out. I think it's pointless without them as they'll just agree with everything you say otherwise.

How many lines do you expect Cork to get on them from the main parties? I'm thinking 2 to 3.

And it will all only take about 50 years from start to finish!

Interesting to see there's no nutjobs on the ballot yet. There weren't many running in the locals either relative to other areas.

Could we get the positions of the above on some of the key issues in Cork?

I'd like to know where they all stand on some of the more ambitious plans for infrastructure and their plans to influence/drive these to closure/success.

Project

Name - Position (For/Against) - Proof - Action Plan

E.G.

M28

Jerry Buttimer - Against - Support of M28 Steering Group - No clear current action

Some of the key items at a local level I think they all should have a position on are…

M28, Dunkettle Interchange, North Ring Road, Elective Hospital, Cork Luas, Busconnects, Cork Sports Infrastructure, Public Housing………….Events Centre

As a constituency despite having 3 of the top politicians in Ireland in MM, MMcG and SC we've had very little actually delivered bar false dawns and promises.

No harm firing off emails to each candidate asking them, albeit I'm not sure how likely a response would be given they're going to be out & about for the next three weeks…

I'd tend to agree with you and was trying to stick to Cork based national projects if you get my meaning, all of the above are to be implemented by national bodies or state agencies rather than local issues. I tend to put a red mark against people campaigning on local council issues (planning, roads, car parking etc.)

Was out for a walk early yesterday and saw that Cllr Rice had put up posters inside Maryborough Woods estate. Thought this wasnt allowed?

I thought there were rules on posting in parks. Shane O’Callaghan put some up in Broadale and people got them removed. Even if it isn’t an official rule, it’s not a good look

However, Maryborough Woods Road (the main road connecting Maryborough Hill to Carrigaline Road) I think is fair game. It’s like the main Mount Oval road. They’re not cul de sacs and so are no different than say Pearse Road

Is it just me or have there been a lot more gardai visible on the streets of the city centre in recent weeks? I'm wondering is it anything to do with the election (not officially of course)