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Lobbiests ?

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  • 09-04-2006 9:13pm
    #1
    Pazaz 21
    Closed Accounts Posts: 294 ✭✭


    Whats the story with lobbiests in Ireland, i haven't heard much about them, but there must be some?


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    #2
    ChityWest
    Closed Accounts Posts: 794 ✭✭✭ChityWest


    Pazaz 21 wrote:
    Whats the story with lobbiests in Ireland, i haven't heard much about them, but there must be some?

    Not being sarcastic but I honestly think many of them end up standing for election themselves & cut out the middlemen.

    OK I lied - that was a bit sarcastic but not totally.


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    #3
    DadaKopf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,731 ✭✭✭DadaKopf


    You mean lobbyists?

    Which ones are you talking about?

    I was on a lobbying skills course recently.

    What's your beef?


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    #4
    lostexpectation
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,082 ✭✭✭lostexpectation


    are they just in consultants and pr firms here?


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    #5
    Pazaz 21
    Closed Accounts Posts: 294 ✭✭Pazaz 21


    I'm just wondering if they are anyway organised, like in america, etc. Are there a lot of lobbyists? (sorry about the earlier spelling)

    Do they have as much influence as their american counterparts?

    Any info you can give me would be great, may be one of the careers i will be heading for in the future. And where did you do your course, any good ?


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    #6
    DadaKopf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,731 ✭✭✭DadaKopf


    In Ireland, there are PR Firms, who would be hired by companies to lobby on their behalf. Clients could be local building development firms or consortia right up to Monsanto.

    A corporate lobbyist I was talking to said that most lobbyists in PR firms begin working in political parties and move into the private sector. As a statistic, there are over 10,000 full-time lobbyists in Brussels. She also described how evil and manipulative professional, business/corporate lobbyists are. I also had the displeasure of briefly meeting one who pretended to be on an Irish lobby group representing Irish biotechnology when she was actually representing Monsanto.

    The area of lobbying I'm being exposed to is lobbying politicians on human rights or global poverty issues. Many of the tricks are similar, some aren't, it's a much less cynical area in general.

    You sound like your career path is an inevitability, or something. What's yer story?


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    #7
    Pazaz 21
    Closed Accounts Posts: 294 ✭✭Pazaz 21


    DadaKopf wrote:
    In Ireland, there are PR Firms, who would be hired by companies to lobby on their behalf. Clients could be local building development firms or consortia right up to Monsanto.

    A corporate lobbyist I was talking to said that most lobbyists in PR firms begin working in political parties and move into the private sector. As a statistic, there are over 10,000 full-time lobbyists in Brussels. She also described how evil and manipulative professional, business/corporate lobbyists are. I also had the displeasure of briefly meeting one who pretended to be on an Irish lobby group representing Irish biotechnology when she was actually representing Monsanto.

    The area of lobbying I'm being exposed to is lobbying politicians on human rights or global poverty issues. Many of the tricks are similar, some aren't, it's a much less cynical area in general.

    You sound like your career path is an inevitability, or something. What's yer story?

    Not inevitabile, i'm going to do a government and public policy degree and one of the areas that they say you can go into is being a lobbyist.

    I kinda want to work more on the inside anyway, if you like. Shaping policy and such.


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    #8
    DadaKopf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,731 ✭✭✭DadaKopf


    Fair enough! I may end up doing that one day, but for the moment I'm more interested in changing it from the outside!


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    #9
    Pazaz 21
    Closed Accounts Posts: 294 ✭✭Pazaz 21


    DadaKopf wrote:
    Fair enough! I may end up doing that one day, but for the moment I'm more interested in changing it from the outside!

    Any Luck? Do you find politicans to be receptive to your lobbying or do you feel like they are just humouring you? Or do they just ignore you?

    I'm just interested if you have a lot of lobbying power as you are lobbying in the human rights / global poverty area, instead of for some big multinational company?


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