Help Elect The Youngest Mep In Europe

Seanán

HELP ELECT THE YOUNGEST MEP IN EUROPE

Seanán Ó Coistín, a 22 year old from Cill Choca/ Kilcock, Co. Chill Dara has announced that he is going to be running as an Independent in next year’s European elections.

Mr. Ó Coistín is in his final year of studying History, Politics and Social Studies in the University of Limerick. His main subject is politics and mainly European politics at that. Mr. Ó Coistín will be running in the Leinster/ East constituency.

He will be stressing issues of importance to people such as education, transport, neutrality, democracy and sovereignty. He will be appealing to people who are fed up with the state of politics at the moment. He is ready to stand before the people of Leinster and offer them an alternative and a better type of politician.

Mr. Ó Coistín will be appealing to younger people and students to help him win the election. Other people will be first time voters, women voters and people who have no strong party allegiance.

SO WHO IS THIS GUY?

Seanán Ó Coistín is a 22 year old from Cill Choca. He is the 3rd in a family of five children. He has two older sisters, a younger brother and a younger sister.

He is engaged to his fiancée, Karen, from Trá Lí whom he met while studying in Luimneach.

He attended school initially in Scoil Uí Dálaigh in Leixlip, then Scoil Uí Riada in Cill Choca/ Kilcok and for secondary level, he attended Maynooth Post Primary School.

His father, John Joe Costin, from Rinn Uí gCuanach, Port Láirge, is a famous horticulturalist and landscaper who was listed in “Who’s Who Ireland 2000: The 1000 Most Influential People in Ireland.” (Page 37, lower right page). Mr. Costin won gold medals for gardens he created in Glasgow and in Osaka, Japan. He was the first Irish person ever to do so and he also won the second prize in the 1991 Chelsea Flower Show, again being the first Irish person to do so. Mr. Costin was also President of the Board of Directors of the National Museum in the 1990s as well as being a former director of Coillte. His mother Elizabeth Ryan originally comes from Buirrís, Ceatharlach.

Mr. Ó Coistín is also related to other successful people such as his first cousin Jamie Costin who is an Irish, British and European athletic walking champion. He appeared in the 2000 Olympic Games and will appear in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Mr. Ó Coistín has another cousin James, who has written a movie and it is currently being considered by Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks company to make into a movie.

SO WHAT DOES HE STAND FOR?

Mr. Ó Coistín will be steering a middle course about European affairs.

“I am enthusiastic about the EU. I am all for it as long as sovereignty and democracy are maintained. I would like to see closer links with the EU especially in technical and cultural matters.”

Areas of interest for Mr. Ó Coistín are:
* Environmental matters,
* Youth affairs,
* Human rights and civil liberties,
* Language and cultural affairs,
* Transport and communications.

Mr. Ó Coistín would also like to see more stringent action on substance abuse such as alcohol, tobacco and drugs in the EU as they are causing great harm to mainly young people.

Mr. Ó Coistín will stand as an independent candidate. This will give him a unique position to offer people a real choice. He will be reminding people that the President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, is an independent and that independent MEPs really can bring about change. Pat Cox was once a lecturer in the University of Limerick.

WHY WOULD HE BE A GOOD MEP?

Seanán would be a good MEP for many reasons, such as:
* He studies History, Politics and Social Studies. His main subject
is Politics – mostly European politics;
* He studied in Rotterdam for Erasmus and did a course on
effective lobbying in Brussels – very handy for getting things;
* He speaks many languages, which is very important in the EU.
He speaks Irish, English, French and Spanish;
* At 23 years old, he is 30 years younger than the average age
of the European Parliament. The youngest Irish MEP is 40 years
old.

He has shown leadership all his life. Here are some examples of his leadership:
* He was a member of quiz teams in the schools he attended;
* He single-handedly organised the debs ball in his school;
* He was presented a certificate from his school as the Best
Mentor on the Students’ Council in Maynooth Post Primary
School ,
* He won prizes with the F.C.Á. for Best Recruit in 1999, Best
Team in 2000 and became a Corporal in 2001;
* He represented UL on “Challenging Times” in 1st Year;
* He was a Class Representative for his class;
* He established Cumann na Gaeilge in UL and An Cumann
Ghaelach in LIT in 2000.
* He was the PRO of Conradh na Gaeilge in Luimneach where he
forced Dunnes Stores to announce a review of its language
policy all over Ireland .

SO HOW CAN YOU HELP ELECT A MEP FROM KILDARE?
In order for Seanán to be successful, he will need supporters who are willing to help out with campaigning.

“I need people who can help in different ways – such as canvassing, leafleting, sending emails, building websites, postering, reminding people to register. There are many ways to help me win.”

If you live in Leinster and would like to help out, contact Seanán at feisireeorpach@eircom.net or write to him at Seanán Ó Coistín, Portglóráin, Cill Choca. Co. Chill Dara.

Your help is essential if the youngest candidate in Ireland is to be elected. As an Independent candidate, his election will provide a better choice to voters who are fed up with dirty politics.

So help an Independent candidate and become a member of the campaign team today.

I’LL BE DIFFERENT”

Mr. Ó Coistín promises to run a different type of campaign.
“Basically I am going to approach this from the position of being the anti-politician. I’ll try to be as different as possible to what people expect of their elected representatives. I’ll use humour, local mobilisation and the wonders of the internet to win this campaign.”
He will only have the weekends to campaign, as he has to complete his degree during the week.

Mr. Ó Coistín hopes to officially launch his campaign in late October, around the time of his 23rd birthday – when he will be 30 years younger than the average age of MEPs in the current European Parliament!!!

/SIZE]

IgnatiusJRiley

Help get the yougest muppet in Europe more like

Matt Simis

Assuming this isnt a joke..

" He speaks many languages, which is very important in the EU.
He speaks Irish, English, French and Spanish; "


How is speaking Irish important in an European context? I feel like Im putting my head in the wasps nest here, but I find the over use of Irish as obtrusive and irritating as those that describe themselves as "christian" in interviews.



Matt


PS: This is all a bit blatant isnt it... ?

jimhenson

What do you know about real life politics and the real issues that concern Irish business, the economy and the Irish people

Who cares if you’re the youngest? You’re just an academic wet behind the ears, go get a life and understand the needs and wants of constituents first hand then you might be able to help them.

On and another thing write either write entirely in Irish or English you twat.

Imposter

Originally posted by Seanán
Mr. Ó Coistín would also like to see more stringent action on substance abuse such as alcohol, tobacco and drugs in the EU as they are causing great harm to mainly young people.

What action exactly?
And what jimhenson said!

bonkey

Gents, you should know the rules :

Attack the post, not the poster.

Whether you agree with Seanán or not, you will accord him the same respect given to all posters on this forum.

jc

Matt Simis

Hmm... I reread the posts and it appears all but one poster provided feedback on the post itself?



Matt

IgnatiusJRiley

Originally posted by Matt Simis
Hmm... I reread the posts and it appears all but one poster provided feedback on the post itself?



Matt

I presume that would be me:)

Sposs

I went to school with the guy - he's a muppet.

bonkey

Originally posted by Matt Simis
Hmm... I reread the posts and it appears all but one poster provided feedback on the post itself?

And all but two posters - you and me - have also made disparaging remarks about the poster.

If people continue to think its ok to hand out insults because they don't approve of this candidate, then they will pick up a free one-week ban shortly afterwards.

If anyone wants to continue questioning my moderation, then do so via PM, or in a new thread, or take it to the Feedback forum in the Admin section. This is not the place for such a discussion.

jc

Sposs

Im a character Witness and as such i do not think he is the type of person to make a good mep there's a reason the youngest at the moment is 40.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

swiss

Originally posted by Seanán:

I’ll try to be as different as possible to what people expect of their elected representatives.

I'm not trying to be too hard on the person in question (I don't know whether you're the person in question or not - if you are you keep referring to yourself in the third person ), but this seems to smack of the whole ethos of "elect me cause I'm different" that seems to be prevalent amongst many independant TD's who are trying to feed into the general disillusionment with establishment parties. Asking people to elect someone on the mere premise that they are "different" without outlining exactly why they are different and what they intend to bring to European politics that has been missing in their absence seems rather disingenuous.

Another point is that even though the representatives age has been cited as a distinct advantage (22), the article (which I assume is quoted verbatim from some source - which is against the charter of this board) lists all of the experience which Mr Ó Coistín has accrued to date. Citing someones (young) age as an advantage and then pointing out their experience as another advantage appears to be somewhat contradictory.

Let's take it then, as the source would want us to believe, that Mr Ó Coistín has a vast deal of experience, and that his relative youth is a distinct advantage as a representative of this country (perhaps because it implies he is more progressive and 'modern' than other MEP's). How exactly would he intend to bring about the 'change' which he is trying to campaign for? For example, he cites "more stringent action on substance abuse such as alcohol, tobacco and drugs in the EU " as one of his key objectives. For what it is worth I agree with this noble sentiment. However, the article stops short at mentioning how Mr Ó Coistín intends to achieve this goal. Is he going to put more pressure on publicans to stop serving alcohol to visibly drunk people? Does he intend to restrict the sale of alcohol even more? Or perhaps does he intend to launch an education initiative to inform more young people about the dangers of alcohol (while explaining why, of course these initiatives would be more effective than those that have gone before)?

This article appears to be full of soundbytes, with little real insight into Mr Ó Coistín's policies or procedures. It reads just like any other self promoting literature spewed out by any number of political representatives. If you really want people to accept you as 'different', you have to try to offer them something more concrete. At least, that is my take on the situation. Feel free to differ.

Sposs

He should concentrate on getting elected to the dail first before he set's his sight on Europe.

Seanán

Jim Henson,

Do you call all political candidates twats?

What is wrong with using more than one language? Most of what I wrote was in English, surely a few words in Irish don't annoy you that much.

As for real life politics, I think I know what real life politics are. I might be studying about Irish, European and International politics, but I still know what annoys people. On Tuesday I participated in a student march against the increase of registration fees from €630 to €1300. That is a real issue, not just for students, but for parents also who have to pay it, maybe not just for one child, but possibly two or three.

I know of the bad state of public transport around the country. I know of how angry people feel after the scam Fianna Fáil did last year around the time of the election. The reason I want to be elected a MEP is to help people with "real political issues".

As for being the youngest, I think it will be an advantage for me to gain support form students and young voters. Most young people feel distanced from politics as most of the politicians are middle aged.

Matt Simis,

How is speaking Irish important in a European context? Irish is the third oldest spoken language in Europe after Basque and Greek. It is a very European language. The president of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, speaks Irish and spoke Irish in his inaugural address. Speaking any language gives you a wider perspective on life.

To some people languages are not important, to others they are. You might not see the value of a certain language - that is fine. it is your opinion. My father is from the Gaeltacht in Rinn and I attended Gaelscoileanna, so Irish has always been important in my life. I was merely letting other people know about it.

I can't see how Irish was over used. Most of what I wrote was in English. Irish certainly is not over used in Irish society today, if that was the point you were trying to make.

Imposter,

I feel that there is too much pressure on young people from alcohol. You only have to read the papers and every week there is more evidence to prove Irish people are drinking too much. There was such a report this week, on Tuesday, stating Irish people drink more than any other European country.

The problem is that there is a culture of drinking and there seems to be no other form of socialising other than drinking. In terms of action, I feel a ban on alcoholic advertising or sponsership would be very effective and better education on what happens when people consume too much alcohol will also help.

If something is not done soon, then Ireland and other countries will pay a huge economic and social cost in the next few years.

I guessing none of you will be lining up to help me. One question though: Do you criticise all candidates like this or is it just me? I'm going Independent so people will have a choice. Will you rip other candidates from the larger parties to pieces for all the dirty deals they have done?

Remember, June 11th, 20004 - Vote No.1 Seanán Ó Coistín

Sposs

Originally posted by Seanán


Remember, June 11th, 20004 - Vote No.1 Seanán Ó Coistín

sure the election is not for another 18000 years your starting early

Matt Simis

Originally posted by Seanán
Jim Henson,

Matt Simis,

How is speaking Irish important in a European context? Irish is the third oldest spoken language in Europe after Basque and Greek. It is a very European language. The president of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, speaks Irish and spoke Irish in his inaugural address. Speaking any language gives you a wider perspective on life.

To some people languages are not important, to others they are. You might not see the value of a certain language - that is fine. it is your opinion. My father is from the Gaeltacht in Rinn and I attended Gaelscoileanna, so Irish has always been important in my life. I was merely letting other people know about it.

I can't see how Irish was over used. Most of what I wrote was in English. Irish certainly is not over used in Irish society today, if that was the point you were trying to make.

Remember, June 11th, 20004 - Vote No.1 Seanán Ó Coistín

Thanks for getting back so quick. Do you not think its relevant that three Irish people (presumably) that you directly tried to rally expressed dissatisfaction with your use of Irish? You can let other people know about Irish in your "things Ive done" section, which you did.. several times.

Your claims that Irish is "old" and someone else spoke it in a political context do not convince me Irish is important to Europe or a European MEP. I fail to see the relevance.

I do not think the Irish language plays an important part of modern Irish society. My own father is a proficent Irish speaker and won many awards (I can get by in the language), but that doesnt mean I (or him for that matter) feel the need to make constant references to it or "drop it in" where ever possible. Since you mentioned your father is from the Gaeltacht, I have a question; why is his name anglicized as "John Joe Costin". It would appear the hardline pro-Gaelic stance is your doing, not his? If so, why mention the Gaeltacht (someones elses home) at all.


Matt

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

dod

Vote for me.
I stand for good stuff and I'm a nice bloke.
And I need the expense account.

Slán libh go leir.
Thanks.

Seanán

Firstly, spot on Moss. I made a mistake. I added one zero extra. The correct date of the elections is Friday, 11th of June, 2004. I am starting early as now is the time to prepare for the election not a month or two before polling day.

Why am going for a European seat rather than the Dáil? The next elections are next year. The next scheduled general elections are in 2007. I want to enter politics now. That is the answer.

Why did I refer to myself in the third person? I merely copied and pasted it from a press release I sent to local radios and newspapers. Hence the reason I describe myself in the third person. And also it would look bad if I had the word I everywhere.

The press release has soundbytes. That is true. Like it or not, but that is the way the media works these days. They don't want essays - they want something they can read in a few minutes and pick out the main points. The reason it didn't contain policies is because it wasn't a programme for action, it was a press release.

As to why my I wrote my father's name in English. It is the name he uses mostly in business and the name he is most widely known as, but all of his official documents (passport, driving license, bank accounts etc.) have the name Seán Ó Coistín.

As for why I state my age as being 30 years younger than the average age of the current European Parliament, is to show that is the EP is top heavy age wise. The oldest member was born in 1925. There are 10 members who have been born since 1970. There has been a precedent set for a young MEP being elected. A German Green MEP was elected in 1999 at the age of 21. I can't remember her name but her bio is available on the EP website.

simu

I guess he mentions speaking Irish and other European languages coz it reinforces his claim to be enthusisatic about the EU whilst trying to retain a degree of independence for Ireland.

And, to try and suck up to ppl who speak Irish. So, how fluent is he in fact?

Daveirl says it annoys him when ppl put in chunks in Irish that he dosen't understand; it annoys me just as much the way ppl use Irish for soudbites and say all the important stuff in English. Go on, if you're that serious about it, have a full English and a full Irish version of the whole thing!

sovtek

Mr. Costin
When you say you want "more stringent" laws on drugs and alcohol, what would you put in practice?

/me not sure if this is considered off topic???

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

Hobbes

AMP 4 MEP!!!

swiss

Originally posted by smiaras:

Mate you're going to get slaughtered lol.

I hope not, or else bonkey and I are going to be quite busy. Remember, this poster deserves as much respect as any other. If you want to take a stand with his issues or his stance, then do so, but do not make it personal.

Now, as regards the original poster himself, even if I was eligable to vote for him (which I'm not as I don't believe I'm in his constituency) I would have many questions before I would give serious consideration to giving him my vote. The first point I would have to make is to not try to use the media bs that every election candidate gives us.

Originally posted by Seanán

The press release has soundbytes. That is true. Like it or not, but that is the way the media works these days.

That may be how the media works, but it is not generally how boards.ie works. People here generally don't like to be fed spin doctored material directly from a press release, and we would like to hear from you directly exactly what you stand for, how you intend to achieve your aims, and why you think that you would be best suited to achieve those aims above the other candidates.

If people are harsh on you here, it is because of the disillusionment that people share about politics in general. I would suggest that you try to rise above this, and try to demonstrate to people that you are a person that can be trusted. In an age where every second politician appears to be involved in some shady deal or other, this is probably one of your greater challenges.

If you are willing to listen to peoples concerns and objections, and try to objectively take those on board, instead of simply paying them lip service as many of our politicians do then you will go a long way to becoming an effective representative. Discussing your stance on boards proactively, like you have been doing in the last few posts, is a good start to achieve that aim.

Seanán

Swiss,

Thank you for your polite comments. I do believe you will be busy if people keep posting like that. I have to say I am a little surprised at all the posts but I am glad I got a reaction. It means people care. My original posting has rocketed to the top of the board.

I am quite willing to answer questions or queries. I won't however be answering insults or other nasty comments. I think it is just a general reaction to anyone who is anyway associated with politics these days. People don't like them or trust them. That is understandable. One of the main reasons I am going forward is because I too am fed up with the state of Irish politics right now. There is no leadership to be seen among any of the main parties. I want to offer people a choice, someone who is independent of the big parties and who is not in it for themselves.

I mentioned some of the things I am interested in. Some people might not like them, others might. That is what elections are all about. Supporting the people you like.

I will listen to what people post here and reply to them but if there is no valid point or it is just a bitter, opininated comment, then I will choose to ignore it. Like I said I mentioned some of the things I am interested in, but if people post belittling posts because they don't agree with me, then I don't think they deserve an answer.

The initial posting will be the last taken from a press release. I only used it as a way of announcement. Otherwise any queries or comments people want to make I will answer as best I can.

At one poster wrote earlier, you can at least acknowledge that I chose to post here unlike some politicians who refuse to answer questions.

Sin a bhfuil go fóill.
Seanán

bonkey

Originally posted by Seanán
One question though: Do you criticise all candidates like this or is it just me?

No - the "regular" candidates get criticised for being all the same. You get criticised for being different.

Makes me wonder sometimes

jc

Sparks

Seanán, one question then.

Why are you a better choice to represent my interests than I am?

dathi1

what party do you feel affiliated to?

where do you stand on the euro constitution?

how do you feel about non EU illegal immigration?

what's your opinion on worker immigration from new eastern accession countries next year?

do you think Ireland should take part in a EU armed force?

how do you feel about the Irish Box and what's left of our fishing industry?

Do you think Nice was a good idea?

what do you think of forced EU legislation on water, bin and essential services taxes?

what do you think of the current EU eurostat corruption debacle?

Victor

And why should we vote for the youngest candidate / MEP and not the best candidate?

Sangre

Originally posted by Seanán
. A German Green MEP was elected in 1999 at the age of 21. I can't remember her name but her bio is available on the EP website.

And at the age of 22, wouldnt this make you the second youngest MEP?