next president of ireland

thebaz

Its election time for next President of Ireland .
The cadidates are :-

1. Michael McDowell
2. Bono Hewson
3. Ali Hewson
4. Gerry Adams
5. Kunle
6. Sir Bob Geldof

5 realistic candidates , and the filler.

who'd do the best job and get your vote ?
who would win ?

WallysWorld

set it up as a poll, and Bono hes a great lad altogether!

Basq

Yore Ma









... get in there!

The_Minister

I think Michael D Higgens expressed an interest in the position at one time.

Heinrich

1. Daniel O'Donnel
2. Gay Byrne
3. Mary Harney
4. Ivor Callaly
5. Sinead O'Connor

:rolleyes: :mad:

simu

From the OP's list - Kunle. (but he's too young - have to be over 35)

Why? Because he's more vibrant, less sanctimonious than the rest on the list.

joebhoy1916

thebaz wrote:

Its election time for next President of Ireland .
The cadidates are :-

4. Gerry Adams


That would be funny Gerry Adams
Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces.

dermo88

I would suggest Senator David Norris.

Of course, we could then proceed on having "God Save the Queen" as our national anthem. That make the Unionists more enthusiastic about a United Ireland. Except they would'nt be smart enough to realise which queen we were referring to.

Duiske

I have an awful feeling its going to be Mary O'Rourke. Still, would be better than Michael (i AM the law) McDowell.

Ruu_Old

My answer to everything here Mary Harney..if she fails then Eddie Hobbs.

Sleepy

I think Michael D. Higgins would be perfect for the role.

netwhizkid

Duiske_Lad wrote:

I have an awful feeling its going to be Mary O'Rourke.

Physically vomits and tries to burn the image of her as president out of my mind. She'd probably sell of Áras an Uachtarán at twice its worth before then screwing up the future of the Presidency. She is at the very core of where Ireland's telecommunications took the wrong turn. If she ever becomes president I shall be taking a one-way ticket out of here before you can even say Privatisation.

thebaz

The past few leaders of our state have been too politically correct -- boring might be another word - we need someone to shake things up a bit --
i'd like to see a good boxing match between Gerry A. and Michael Mc up in the stadium to sort it out -- and the winner takes all !

Cork

Brian Crowley

mikemac

Would Michael D be eligible next time round?
Don't you have to be under 70 when elected. May be wrong on this.

I think this was mentioned in the media last time around, as that was Michael D's last chance

Hermione*

I thought Michael D. Higgins would have done a really good job as president. I'd prefer him to Mary McAleese at any rate.

Mary O'Rourke ... ugh, no!
I'd say Gerry Adams would love to get it, but I can't imagine him winning an election and the political aprties are never going to give it to him unopposed.

The Corinthian

Sleepy wrote:

I think Michael D. Higgins would be perfect for the role.

Almost. He's not a woman, but he is close.

darkman2

Firespinner wrote:

I think Michael D Higgens expressed an interest in the position at one time.

OH GOD NO!:eek:

dahamsta

The Corinthian wrote:

Almost. He's not a woman, but he is close.

Heh.

TheVan

Ali Hewson ftw.....she'd be perfect!

And don't worry, not a hope of Mary O'Rourke....she will be lucky if she wins back her seat in Westmeath!

Tbh I reckon Ivana Bakcik might go for it....she has the whole Trinity lecturer thing that McAleese and Robinson had going too and was unfortunate not to become an MEP

Dirk Gently

eamon dunphy, for the craic

constitutionus

whats the point, if its anything like the last time the government wont let you have an election :rolleyes: constitutional democracy my arse

ateam

Bertie Ahern if he's not the Taoiseach by then.

Wouldn't be surprised if Fine Gael put John Bruton forward.

dogbert_the_dog

I think the reason why there was no election last time was because of the constitutional provision that if they're parliamentry consent an outgoing president may be reappointed witrhout an election. So that would appear constitutional and democratic, the parliament being an elected assembly.
They have to have an election next time though, & my preferred option is Michael McDowell cos it would give him another seven (possibly fourteen) years in which to p**s everyone off.
The 'happy smiley everyone's friend' style of president is getting a bit hackneyed at this stage. At least we'd get our money's worth out of a confrontational one.
On the while 'p**ssing people off' ticket Bono might not be a bad option either.....

ISAW

constitutionus wrote:

whats the point, if its anything like the last time the government wont let you have an election :rolleyes: constitutional democracy my arse

This is a misinformed comment. the government have no rights under the constitution to prevent a presidential election. I believe it requires twenty members of the Oireachtas to nominate a candidate or four county councils.

This gets rid of monster raving loony candidates. Though parties are not referred to in the constitution FF FG LAB or the PD's could nominate someone. The independent group could but they are really an amalgam of disparate opinions (and what are FF I hear you ask )

If you really think there is no point in having systems of elections or in constutional provision for them and also think the Government can ban elections then I suggest you change your name in this forum.

Time Magazine

TheVan wrote:

Tbh I reckon Ivana Bakcik might go for it....she has the whole Trinity lecturer thing that McAleese and Robinson had going too

Both Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese were Reid Professor of Law - the current position held by Ms. Bacik, to be exact.

She's got two things going against her. The first is abortion. She wouldn't win against a Fianna Fáil candidate in light of that issue.

The second one, clearly, is that her first name isn't Mary.

DublinWriter

Who cares?

The Presidential role is a DeValera hangover where he established a non-executive role to match that of the British Monarch during the 1920 negotiations (of course he nominated himself for the role and threw Collins into the Lion's mouth!).

The role of the Irish president should be scrapped. It costs the taxpayer too much.

What other Republic in the world has such a non-executive president?

It's just an excuse for some failed/burnt-out politician to get a big house in the park along with Mercs and perks.

While I do agree that while Mary Robinson 're-invented' the role, all that came before her (especially Hilary) treated the role like a bejewelled pension scheme.

Time for consitutional change.

ISAW

DublinWriter wrote:

Who cares?


What other Republic in the world has such a non-executive president?

Under the new Iraqi constitution, the State President's powers are limited, with most executive authority belonging to the Prime Minister of Iraq.

Austria - Though theoretically entrusted with great power by the constitution, in practice the President acts, for the most part, merely as a ceremonial figurehead.

Republic of China- The President must promulgate all laws and has no right to veto. Other powers of the President include granting amnesty, pardon, or clemency, declaring martial law, and conferring honors and decorations.

the President of Malta is a constitutional head of state, with executive power remaining with the Prime Minister.

Happy now?

Hotblack Desiato

DublinWriter wrote:

Who cares? The Presidential role is a DeValera hangover where he established a non-executive role to match that of the British Monarch during the 1920 negotiations (of course he nominated himself for the role and threw Collins into the Lion's mouth!).

Please. Google for "Govenor General." You might also wish to explain why the post of President took so long to come under Fianna Fail "control".

The role of the Irish president should be scrapped. It costs the taxpayer too much.

It costs us orders of magnitude less than other things, such as decentralisation or e-voting, of very questionable value.

Time for consitutional change.

Good luck with that.

DublinWriter

ISAW wrote:

Under the new Iraqi constitution, the State President's powers are limited, with most executive authority belonging to the Prime Minister of Iraq.

Austria - Though theoretically entrusted with great power by the constitution, in practice the President acts, for the most part, merely as a ceremonial figurehead.

Republic of China- The President must promulgate all laws and has no right to veto. Other powers of the President include granting amnesty, pardon, or clemency, declaring martial law, and conferring honors and decorations.

the President of Malta is a constitutional head of state, with executive power remaining with the Prime Minister.

Happy now?

No. China and Iraq are hardly decent examples to cite.

Leaving Austria and Malta. Two. How many functioning democratic 'republics' are there in the world again in total?

neilled

The repulic of China is actually Taiwan, a nation of 22 million people (on an island 3/4 the size of ours) with its own democratically elected governement, large reserves of curreny and armed forces that would trounce our own. It is not the Peoples Republic of China which keep threatening war should Taiwan ever want change its name from the Republic of China.

Its current preident with the job titled as specified by the previous poster is chen shui bian, democratically elected twice.