Local Elections 2009

cornbb

Who will you be voting for in the Local/Euro elections this friday? I'm a bit uninformed at this stage, I don't know much about the local candidates here in Galway City West. As for the Euro elections, I've heard a bit about Marian Harkin and she seems pretty solid. Ganley will be getting my last preference, with FF candidates following closely behind Elsewhere, I'll probably lean towards FG, Labour or Independents.

Does anyone have strong feelings about whether any particular candidates would be a good choice?

Jugs82

Changed my vote to Galway this year so was doing a bit of research on the canidates (however helpful that is) - heres where im at: (voting in City Central btw)

Conneely (FG) lives in the same estate but im not a fan of his attention seeking, its all about me approach but that said he does seem to bring issues to the fore

Connolly (FF) & Crowe (FF) - Honestly cant see myself voting for either such is the anger i have towards FF at present

Cameron (LAB) seems to be a hard working genuine kind of fella so at the moment, hes got a tick, just not sure where yet - the car expense story ive read doesnt really alter this for me

Connelly (LAB) people i work with live in Shantalla and they arent happy over the whole water crisis - some like her but others says they dont see her until election time

Ni Chroinin (Greens) completly disillusioned with the Greens, alot of talk and no action seems to be the norm..

Marley (SF) Running in 2 constituencies as far i know and doesnt reside in the area so that wouldnt entice me to vote for her

Cubbard (IND) Lots of posters, young fella keenly interested in local issues but have heard that he is symphatic towards FF and ive seen plenty of so called Independent councillors join a party once elected so im dubious

Geraghty (IND) Like the look of this guy and although he is ex-PD (Wasnt a fan) that isnt putting me off - seems to be quiet proactive but maybe im wrong..

As for the European elections, i will be giving everybody except Ganley a tick - probably Harkin followed by O'Luain and O'Keefe

snubbleste

I voted No to Lisbon and I'm voting for those that represent that view.

axiom32

Jugs82 wrote: »

Changed my vote to Galway this year so was doing a bit of research on the canidates (however helpful that is) - heres where im at: (voting in City Central btw)

Conneely (FG) lives in the same estate but im not a fan of his attention seeking, its all about me approach but that said he does seem to bring issues to the fore

Connolly (FF) & Crowe (FF) - Honestly cant see myself voting for either such is the anger i have towards FF at present

Cameron (LAB) seems to be a hard working genuine kind of fella so at the moment, hes got a tick, just not sure where yet - the car expense story ive read doesnt really alter this for me

Connelly (LAB) people i work with live in Shantalla and they arent happy over the whole water crisis - some like her but others says they dont see her until election time

Ni Chroinin (Greens) completly disillusioned with the Greens, alot of talk and no action seems to be the norm..

Marley (SF) Running in 2 constituencies as far i know and doesnt reside in the area so that wouldnt entice me to vote for her

Cubbard (IND) Lots of posters, young fella keenly interested in local issues but have heard that he is symphatic towards FF and ive seen plenty of so called Independent councillors join a party once elected so im dubious

Geraghty (IND) Like the look of this guy and although he is ex-PD (Wasnt a fan) that isnt putting me off - seems to be quiet proactive but maybe im wrong..

As for the European elections, i will be giving everybody except Ganley a tick - probably Harkin followed by O'Luain and O'Keefe

id agree with all the above and certainly with the FF bit....its a shame if cubbard has links to FF it wud be good for a younger member of the area to get a seat and deal with local issues and not just roll into the idealogy of FF i.e there is no west of city...example that f##kin seamus quirke road that jus stops being four lanes and goes into two
i probably give no 1 to geraghty it seems to me hes been lookin out for the area for a while

Just about canidate on the other side of city the McNelis guy im sure came lookin for the old No1 a few years back as a Fine Gael member when i lived in renmore area....think this kind of ship jumping is a sign of a lack of conviction to ur cause and more like trying to jump on the gravy train

prob give no3 to the green girl cos she looked all alone when she knocked on door and evelen new friends might be good for her;)

PopeBuckfastXVI

snubbleste wrote: »

I voted No to Lisbon and I'm voting for those that represent that view.

Out of curiosity, are you voting for 'No' parties/people regardless of left/right split, or do you consider one or the other side a more legitemate representation of the 'No to Lisbon' view?

Also, feel free to tell me to bog off as it's none of my business :pac:

W!zard

snubbleste : This is not the Lisbon we are voting for..

Zzippy

Galway East here. Won't be giving any preference to FF candidates, completely fed up of this govt and regardless of local issues I strongly feel they need to be given a kick up the h*le at every level to wake them up to how much people are angry with them.
Similarly to the Green Party, I voted Green since I was old enough to vote but no more, their lack of social conscience in propping up a govt that bails out banks but closes childrens wards in hospitals disgusts me.
I like this Derek Nolan guy from Labour, young and enthusiastic, seemed very well informed and determined when I spoke to him. His colleague Nuala Nolan however, was a bit thick, just kept saying she worked in Boston Scientific and was a working person, not like them other candidates who were all professionals - um, like there's something wrong with being a professional??
Will prob give a vote to Barra Nevin of FG, he was impressive too when I spoke to him, again he's young and seems determined to try to make changes. A bit of new blood on the council wouldn't be a bad thing.
As for other candidates, I either haven't met them or would laugh in their faces (Michael Crowe = muppet).
Overall I reckon one vote for Lab and one for FG.

Re European election, I've read/heard so little about the candidates I haven't decided yet, but again it won't be FF getting any preference...

snubbleste

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

Out of curiosity, are you voting for 'No' parties/people regardless of left/right split, or do you consider one or the other side a more legitemate representation of the 'No to Lisbon' view?
Also, feel free to tell me to bog off as it's none of my business :pac:

I'm voting for those who advocated a No vote regardless of where their ideals originate. How can it be that the majority in NW voted No to a european treaty and are still not actually being represented in parliament, instead we have our MEPs saying we made a mistake or did not know how to vote the correct way.

cornbb

snubbleste wrote: »

I'm voting for those who advocated a No vote regardless of where their ideals originate. How can it be that the majority in NW voted No to a european treaty and are still not actually being represented in parliament, instead we have our MEPs saying we made a mistake or did not know how to vote the correct way.

Well now you have the chance to vote for those who you feel will represent your views. And in fact now almost twice as many people say in polls that they would vote yes as opposed to no, so it looks like its the electorate who are saying they made a mistake and not the politicians.

biko

cornbb, merged with the thread with a poll. Hope that's ok.

cornbb

Magnus wrote: »

cornbb, merged with the thread with a poll. Hope that's ok.

'pologies, I forgot that there was another thread.

sgthighway

If people are unsure on who to vote for; take a couple of minutes to recall all the trouble in the Council Meetings which led to some been abandoned. I reckon most should be got rid off. I'd keep Brian Walsh. The Galway City Council Management need Councillers who they can work with. Some existing Councillers are around too long. Time for change.
Anyone voting SF?

PopeBuckfastXVI

sgthighway wrote: »

Anyone voting SF?

I'm going to give a high enough preference for Tom Hanley, but only because I know him personally and he's a good guy.

I'm just after realising that I have been removed from the voting register! WTF :mad:, I have been registered since I was 18 and have always used my vote why would I be removed, I only checked the register as I didnt get a polling card.

The only thing I can think of is that I registered to vote when I was living in london last year, does anybody know if that removed me from the register here?

skelliser

if your not on the register you cant vote. Its to late to register now.
The only thing you can do is hope you are on the register by going along to the polling station on friday with picture id, passport, drivers license etc. They have the register there and can check for you.

skelliser

skelliser wrote: »

if your not on the register you cant vote. Its to late to register now.
The only thing you can do is hope you are on the register by going along to the polling station on friday with picture id, passport, drivers license etc. They have the register there and can check for you.

Yeah I know its too late now. I would have checked the on-line register in time but I was on the register for the last election and never expected to be removed. I will go down anyway but my other family members are showing up on-line and I'm not so nearly sure I have been removed.

skelliser

so your best bet is to head down and hope for the best

Lockstep

axiom32 wrote: »

Just about canidate on the other side of city the McNelis guy im sure came lookin for the old No1 a few years back as a Fine Gael member when i lived in renmore area....think this kind of ship jumping is a sign of a lack of conviction to ur cause and more like trying to jump on the gravy train

Not really; he ran for Fine Gael 5 years ago and joined Labour 3 years ago while living in the East Ward; where there was such a strong labour team he wouldn't be put forward for election anyway. Was very active in the 2007 election at a time when Labour's seats seemed fairly stagnant and even the Labour vote in Galway was a Michael D. vote.

Micahel D;( one of Galway's most respected politicians) was once a Fianna Fáiler.

Zzippy wrote: »

I like this Derek Nolan guy from Labour, young and enthusiastic, seemed very well informed and determined when I spoke to him. His colleague Nuala Nolan however, was a bit thick, just kept saying she worked in Boston Scientific and was a working person, not like them other candidates who were all professionals - um, like there's something wrong with being a professional??

Any thoughts on Costello?


I'll probably be voting;
1) McNelis (like the guy, has good ideas and is good on the charity work in Galway)
2) Hanley (SF) Has some good solid policies, unlikely to get elected though)

Rest will depend; some such as Naughton and Keane do nothing to dispel my notions of an argumentative council (anyone hear the Galway Bay FM show? The two of them were terrible)
Ó Brolcháin seems a good man but I dislike his party propping up FF
Connolly I respect but she's too much of a "fly off the handle" type for me to give her a very high preference.

ethernet

Yareli Embarrassed Teller wrote: »

I'm just after realising that I have been removed from the voting register! WTF :mad:, I have been registered since I was 18 and have always used my vote why would I be removed, I only checked the register as I didnt get a polling card.

The only thing I can think of is that I registered to vote when I was living in london last year, does anybody know if that removed me from the register here?

Busy-body neighbour? Same thing happened to someone I live with who went to study in the UK for a while. The mind boggles.

cornbb

What are people's thoughts on AJ Cahill in the West ward?

Lockstep

cornbb wrote: »

What are people's thoughts on AJ Cahill in the West ward?

Not a fan TBH; he keeps going on about jobs, there is little enough the council can do about this.

Amazed at how quickly he's got into the race; given he ran in 2007 in Meath.

Xiney

I've decided I'm voting

1) Derek Nolan (Labour)
2) James Hope (Green)


Good solid stances on transportation.

galah

How do I know which electoral ward I'm in? It doesn't say on the polling card, and I need to read up on those councillors before I vote...

Xiney

you could take a look at the posters up in your area I guess?

(tried googling there quickly and didn't find anything)

Jugs82

Went for:

1. Geraghty
2. Cameron
3. Ni Chroinin

galah

Xiney wrote: »

you could take a look at the posters up in your area I guess?

(tried googling there quickly and didn't find anything)

Good point (at work now, though, so too late for that.).

3greenrizla's

http://www.localelection.ie/index.php/galway-candidates/256

Galway City West

John Mulholland _ Fine Gael
Hildegarde Naughton_ Fine Gael
Peter Keane _ Fianna Fail
Val Hanley _Fianna Fail
Niall Ó Brolcháin_ The Green Party
Niall McNelis _ The Labour Party
Tom Hanly _ Sinn Féin
Catherine Connolly _ Non-Party
Donal Lyons _ Non-Party
Daniel Callanan _ Non-Party
Aidan J McCabe_ Non-Party
AJ Cahill _ Non-Party

Galway City Central

Padraig Conneely _ Fine Gael
John Connolly _ Fianna Fail
Ollie Crowe _ Fianna Fail
Billy Cameron_ The Labour Party
Collette Connolly_ The Labour Party
Mairead Ní Chroinin_ The Green Party
Anna Marley _ Sinn Féin
Mike Cubbard _ Non-Party
Mike Geraghty _ Non-Party

Galway City East

Brian Walsh _ Fine Gael
Frank G Fahy _ Fine Gael
Barra Nevin _ Fine Gael
Michael J Crowe _ Fianna Fail
Mary Leahy _ Fianna Fail
Sheila Mangan _ Fianna Fail
Tom Costello _ The Labour Party
Nuala Nolan _ The Labour Party
Derek Nolan _ The Labour Party
Martin Concannon _ Sinn Féin
James Hope _ The Green Party
Declan McDonnell _ Non-Party
Terry O'Flaherty _ Non-Party

cornbb

Just voted there. I asked how turnout was, they said it was looking ok for the locals butnot too much interest in the euros

toiletduck

When does the count get underway, tonight or tomorrow day?

biko

Did my civic duty just there.