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Increasing vote turnout

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    #32
    Didas
    Registered Users Posts: 191 ✭✭Didas


    Atari Jaguar wrote: »
    No they shouldn't. Sorry but they aren't affected by our government and as far as I'm concerned they are not Irish they are British. 90% would tell you that too. We don't get a say in the British votes why should they get a say in ours?

    Interestingly enough, your concern is not what dictates the official policy of the UK, NI and Irish governments on nationality in the North. All NI citizens are entitled to both British and Irish citizenship. In the 2011 UK census, 28.4% of NI, over half a million people, identified as Irish. The President of Ireland is essentially a ceremonial representative of the Irish people, the office holds no real effective power over government in the South, so it would be fitting for Irish citizens in Northern Ireland to have a voice on who that should be.


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    #33
    Atari Jaguar
    Registered Users Posts: 985 ✭✭✭Atari Jaguar


    tonygun wrote: »
    Interestingly enough, your concern is not what dictates the official policy of the UK, NI and Irish governments on nationality in the North. All NI citizens are entitled to both British and Irish citizenship. In the 2011 UK census, 28.4% of NI, over half a million people, identified as Irish. The President of Ireland is essentially a ceremonial representative of the Irish people, the office holds no real effective power over government in the South, so it would be fitting for Irish citizens in Northern Ireland to have a voice on who that should be.

    Which means 81.6% identify as British. So why should those get a say? We don't get a say in their votes what it's to do with them.


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    #34
    Didas
    Registered Users Posts: 191 ✭✭Didas


    Atari Jaguar wrote: »
    Which means 81.6% identify as British. So why should those get a say? We don't get a say in their votes what it's to do with them.

    No, 48.4% identify as British, 29.4% identify as Northern Irish, but that's beside the point. I explicitly stated Irish citizens in NI should get a vote, not all people in NI.


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    #35
    Atari Jaguar
    Registered Users Posts: 985 ✭✭✭Atari Jaguar


    tonygun wrote: »
    No, 48.4% identify as British, 29.4% identify as Northern Irish, but that's beside the point. I explicitly stated Irish citizens in NI should get a vote, not all people in NI.

    When they live in what may as well be another country no they shouldn't. If the vote has no effect on you then why should you vote?

    I'll say it again - we don't vote in British elections.


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    #36
    Didas
    Registered Users Posts: 191 ✭✭Didas


    Atari Jaguar wrote: »
    When they live in what may as well be another country no they shouldn't. If the vote has no effect on you then why should you vote?

    I'll say it again - we don't vote in British elections.

    Because they are Irish citizens, living on the island of Ireland, and therefore should, as a symbol of unity, get a vote on who the ceremonial President of Ireland is.


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    #37
    Peregrinus
    Registered Users Posts: 26,103 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    Atari Jaguar wrote: »
    Which means 81.6% identify as British. So why should those get a say? We don't get a say in their votes what it's to do with them.
    Maths not your strong point, Atari? ;)

    Even if we assume that everybody who didn't identify as Irish identified as British, that still wouldn't give you 81.6%.

    In fact, they don't. In the 2011 census, just 39.9% of the population in Northern Ireland identified simply as "British". 25.3% identified as "Irish" and 20.9% as "Northern Irish". After that you get people claiming multiple identities - British and Northern Irish, 6.2%; Irish and Northern Irish, 1.1%; British, Irish and Northern Irish, 1.0%; British and Irish, 0.7%. After that it starts to get idiosyncratic. There are 10 people in NI whose national identity is "British, Northern Irish and Turkish", for example, and 11 who are "Irish and Algerian".

    Still, if you add up everyone whose national identity includes some claim to Irishness, it comes to 55.5% of the population.


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    #38
    Stasi 2.0
    Closed Accounts Posts: 295 ✭✭Stasi 2.0


    How do those proposing to give a presidential vote to "Irish citizens" in Northern Ireland envisage it working ?

    Most people born in Northern Ireland are automatically Irish AND British citizens the two are by no means mutually exclusive. Requiring a passport wouldn't work as some people don't have passports owing to (shock horror) them not regularly travelling outside Ireland or the UK while others may have more than one passport. So if the use of the term "Irish citizens" is intended to exclude Unionists it is completely unworkable (Not that many Unionists would likely to be interested in participating anyway)

    Without the cooperation of the NI government it would be a lot more difficult to implement given that a register of electors, a network of polling stations, count centres, and all the other paraphernalia of democracy would have to be established from scratch.

    And do we give everyone there ANOTHER day off school ?


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    #39
    MeatTwoVeg
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 861 ✭✭✭MeatTwoVeg


    The vast majority of people who don't bother their arse voting are not people I'd want involved in making any decisions that affect how the country will be governed.

    It's a stupid idea to force people to vote.
    We'd effectively be forcing idiots to go down to the polling station and make idiotic decisions.


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    #40
    ScumLord
    Registered Users Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    There's no political party that I trust. I really want a new political party, one that's not based on nationalist ideals from the last century. I want one that based on scientific knowledge, rationality, has realistic goals, actual goals not vague let's make everything better nonsense. One that doesn't have a PR department and tells people what they need to hear rather than what they want to hear. Even if that means they lose support, or annoy half the population.

    There's absolutely nothing about the current batch of parties that I can relate too.

    I think we the people, the rulers of this country need to have time to deal with political issues. At the moment we're like absentee landlords and the elected public servants are running amok while we're distracted working to pay taxes.

    I think the working week should be reduced to make way for a day when people can do nation building tasks, whether that's educating yourself on how the state works, attending public meetings, debating the possibilities.


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    #41
    Dravokivich
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,360 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    AnGaelach wrote: »
    We've had, by and large, falling turnouts in general elections and referendums for decades. A lot of people say parties won't represent them, but they never turn out to vote anyway so their voice is unlikely to be heard - further alienating the base that is likely to vote.

    I'm just wondering as to what kind of action you would support in order to increase the turnout, or if we should even bother at all.

    Again, I'll set it to private so people don't see your vote itself.

    Encouraging or enforcing voter turn out won't change that. Nor will it be done by increasing the Voter Profile.

    People need a reason to vote and lately it's been shown that they are more likely to re-act against something, than for anything. With the exception of the recent vote that got same sex marriage sorted out here.


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    #42
    Joshua J
    Registered Users Posts: 1,305 ✭✭✭Joshua J


    MeatTwoVeg wrote: »
    The vast majority of people who don't bother their arse voting are not people I'd want involved in making any decisions that affect how the country will be governed.

    It's a stupid idea to force people to vote.
    We'd effectively be forcing idiots to go down to the polling station and make idiotic decisions.
    Haha taking responsibility for the garbage we've be laboured with. But you're not an idiot right?. You're one of the smart lads.


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    #43
    MeatTwoVeg
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 861 ✭✭✭MeatTwoVeg


    Joshua J wrote: »
    Haha taking responsibility for the garbage we've be laboured with. But you're not an idiot right?. You're one of the smart lads.

    I literally have no idea what you're talking about.


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