Meath East: General Election 2011 Thread

Dostoevsky

Meath East is a three-seater. So far, the only candidates I can find running here are:


Sinn Féin: Michael Gallagher
Fianna Fáil: Thomas Byrne
Labour Party: Dominic Hannigan
Fine Gael: Shane McEntee
Fine Gael: Regina Doherty

Is Brian Fitzgerald running? Is there a Green Party candidate? Will Fianna Fáil just run one candidate, Thomas Byrne, and forget about finding somebody to replace Mary Wallace? When will we have the finalised list? It's disgraceful that we don't have something this basic, despite the election being in effect called before Christmas, even if the date wasn't set then.

Anyway, who do you predict will get the seats?

Hannigan came fourth in 2007 so I expect he'll get in this time. Shane McEntee of Fine Gael came 2nd so again I suspect he'll get in. I can't see Fine Gael's Doherty getting in simply because that very large Fianna Fáil vote in 2007 (2 out of 3 seats) has to go somewhere, and it's improbable that it will go straight to Fine Gael. Does anybody know anything about the Sinn Féin guy, Michael Gallagher? He never ran here before, and they hadn't much of a showing in 2007, but Peadar Tóibín of Sinn Féin will probably get elected in Meath West. Who's going to get the protest vote in Meath East?

Let the discussion begin.

Fiskar

FF put forward Rathoath councillor Nick Killian to run in Meath east with T Byrne

ferga_com

Nick Killian has a lot of support for his work in Ratoath and surrounding areas, but I think he'd have a better chance running as an independent. Being a member of FF won't do him any favours.

BTE72

Agreed.. Nick Killian is a stand up, no nonsense type who has done lots of work for us locally in Ratoath. My problem is as it was in the local elections his affiliation to Fianna Fail will stifle the votes.

I'm no polital expert and i would always have been a mainstream safe voter . I am swaying way left of centre and i predict many others will aswell.

This country needs courage to stand up to the European Bully Boys and Fine Gael/ Labour will not have the metal.

Skrynesaver

I could be wrong but I assume Nick Killian is being proposed to soak up some of Regina Doherty's Ratoath based vote. While he will take some it's unlikely to transfer on party lines and with FF so transfer-toxic at the moment dividing the party's vote may backfire spectacularly.

DB74

AFAIK Maria Murphy (FG councillor from Dunboyne) is to run

I could be wrong though

gmale

BTE72 wrote: »

This country needs courage to stand up to the European Bully Boys and Fine Gael/ Labour will not have the metal.

Back that statement up!

Both FG and Labour are looking to renegotiate the bail out after the election! >>>> see link

Dubh Geannain

gmale wrote: »

Back that statement up!

Both FG and Labour are looking to renegotiate the bail out after the election! >>>> see link

Both FG and Labour agreed to facilitate the passing of the finance bill only his week and if you recall Europe has to now cast it's eyes over most budgetary measures as a result of the Irish bailout

FG voted for the Bank guarantee and agree with the principle of the Irish bailout from Europe.

Labour and FG pressed for a yes vote to the Lisbon treaty.

gmale

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

Both FG and Labour agreed to facilitate the passing of the finance bill only his week and if you recall Europe has to now cast it's eyes over most budgetary measures as a result of the Irish bailout

FG voted for the Bank guarantee and agree with the principle of the Irish bailout from Europe.

Labour and FG pressed for a yes vote to the Lisbon treaty.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the Lisbon Treaty.

I agree, FG did vote for the bank guarantee and I am disgusted with them for that. Sinn Fein also voted for it. Only Labour voted against it and fair play to them for having the foresight. But you are wrong to suggest that BOTH FG and Labour are facilitating the passage of the Finance Bill. Labour had tabled a motion of no confidence in the Govt but withdrew that motion to allow the Finance Bill be discussed. FG had announced that they were going to table a motion of no confidence in the Taoiseach for next week. They did not withdraw that motion, it is still in place for its original date. Only Labour have withdrawn any motion.

Also, both FG and Lab are going to vote against the Finance Bill. Any motion of no confidence that Lab would have put in front of the Dail this week would have been defeated due to the Greens supporting the Govt. The Greens made a pledge last Novemeber to get the Finance Bill through. So if you want to look at it in a different way, allowing the Finance Bill to be discussed, which could yet be defeated due to FG, Lab, SF and independents voting against it, could see the Govt. forced from office even sooner than Lab having the no confidence motion this week and FG having it next week.

As for Europe having the ability to cast final judgement on all our budgetary measures due to the bailout, that is neither FG or Lab's fault. It is the fault of the Fianna Fail who have been in power for the last 13 years and it is the fault of the Irish electorate for putting them into power for that length of time.

And for anyone thinking of voting for Sinn Fein, please have a proper read of their Economic Policies and look beyond the shouting, they are simply opportunists making noise!

Hammer Archer

I'd expect Regina Doherty to get a seat. She did very well for a newcomer in the last election. Hope Nick Killian doesn't get near a seat.

gmale

And my prediction:
1st seat to Shane McEntee
2nd seat to Dominic Hannigan
3rd seat - cant call it, Regina Doherty or Michael Gallagher.

I have not been canvassed yet, has anyone been canvassed?

furtzy

Nick Killian strikes me as all bluster and no substance. I remember his big stance on the illegal developements on the N2 and how he was going to get them torn down....they're still there and more have appeared.

Reckon it will be Mc Entee, Hannigan & Gallagher this time around

Haven't been canvassed yet but am looking forward to it

Dubh Geannain

gmale wrote: »

This has absolutely nothing to do with the Lisbon Treaty.

I agree, FG did vote for the bank guarantee and I am disgusted with them for that. Sinn Fein also voted for it. Only Labour voted against it and fair play to them for having the foresight. But you are wrong to suggest that BOTH FG and Labour are facilitating the passage of the Finance Bill. Labour had tabled a motion of no confidence in the Govt but withdrew that motion to allow the Finance Bill be discussed. FG had announced that they were going to table a motion of no confidence in the Taoiseach for next week. They did not withdraw that motion, it is still in place for its original date. Only Labour have withdrawn any motion.

Also, both FG and Lab are going to vote against the Finance Bill. Any motion of no confidence that Lab would have put in front of the Dail this week would have been defeated due to the Greens supporting the Govt. The Greens made a pledge last Novemeber to get the Finance Bill through. So if you want to look at it in a different way, allowing the Finance Bill to be discussed, which could yet be defeated due to FG, Lab, SF and independents voting against it, could see the Govt. forced from office even sooner than Lab having the no confidence motion this week and FG having it next week.

As for Europe having the ability to cast final judgement on all our budgetary measures due to the bailout, that is neither FG or Lab's fault. It is the fault of the Fianna Fail who have been in power for the last 13 years and it is the fault of the Irish electorate for putting them into power for that length of time.

And for anyone thinking of voting for Sinn Fein, please have a proper read of their Economic Policies and look beyond the shouting, they are simply opportunists making noise!

I'm not advocating a vote for Sinn Féin before you start painting anyone with a particular brush. Are you saying Lisbon is irrelevant? Remember the public had their say once and then were scared into passing it by the 3 largest parties in the country on the second occasion.

If Labour were so opposed to the finance bill they'd have kept their motion of no confidence on the table. Instead they played politics and are allowing for the passage of a bill, authorised by Europe. They could have stopped it happening, end of story.

I'm simply backing up the original posters statement that FG/Labour are hardly going to stand up to Europe. What are you trying to say? They will? :rolleyes:
Time will tell I suppose.

gmale

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

I'm not advocating a vote for Sinn Féin before you start painting anyone with a particular brush. Are you saying Lisbon is irrelevant? Remember the public had their say once and then were scared into passing it by the 3 largest parties in the country on the second occasion.

If Labour were so opposed to the finance bill they'd have kept their motion of no confidence on the table. Instead they played politics and are allowing for the passage of a bill, authorised by Europe. They could have stopped it happening, end of story.

I'm simply backing up the original posters statement that FG/Labour are hardly going to stand up to Europe. What are you trying to say? They will? :rolleyes:
Time will tell I suppose.

Yes I am saying the Lisbon Treaty is irrelevant! The financial meltdown, the banking disaster and the bailout that followed were in no way related to Ireland voting for the Lisbon Treaty.

The reason that FG and Lab advocated in favor of the Lisbon Treaty is not because they were bending over to our European Overlords, it's probably because as political parties, they simply agreed with the principles of the treaties!

Lab could have kept their motion of no confidence on the agenda, but as I said, it would have been futile as the Greens would most likely have supported the Govt in it considering they made a committment to get the Finance Bill through. The fact that when questioned numerous times by journalists after they pulled out of Govt "Would you support a motion of no confidence?" they refused to answer, would imply that they would not! If Lab lost the motion of no confidence, the Finance Bill would not be debated and the Govt could hold on for a few more weeks, delaying a much needed election and allowing FF time to regroup around a new leader. Yes Lab were playing politics, I will admit that! But their game was to force the Govt out at the earliest opportunity and I think they have done that, elction on the 25th of Feb, not an election in March!

Both FG and Lab have said that they are going to enter renegotiations with IMF/EU/ECB. Whether or not they succeed in anything substantial is unknown.

Dubh Geannain

Doesn't matter about the Greens they still should have left it on the table regardless.

Labour U-turned on their motion because they didn't want to have to pass an equally harsh bill themselves if they go into coalition. So they saved their parties face in allowing the bill to be passed by a minority government. You're being fooled by their spin if you believe otherwise.

You've correctly pointed out the irrelevance of the Lisbon treaty to our economic mess. But the recession was one of the biggest arguments for voting 'Yes' touted by FG and Labour.

It is relevant however to question we are debating as to whether FG/Labour would stand up to Europe or not. So please don't detract from that point.

You haven't answered my question though. So please, do you believe FG/Labour will stand up to Europe? And if so, this time, let you explain why you believe it to be the case.

lovelyhurler

gmale wrote: »

And my prediction:
1st seat to Shane McEntee
2nd seat to Dominic Hannigan
3rd seat - cant call it, Regina Doherty or Michael Gallagher.

I have not been canvassed yet, has anyone been canvassed?

Had Hannigan at the door at 6:30 last Friday evening - saw him outside Tesco in Ashbourne on Thursday night. He sure is quick off the blocks if nothing else.
Also had a 'missed' call from Regina Doherty on Saturday afternoon. Luckily wasn't in the house to answer the door.
It will be interesting to see who actually does canvassing over the next few weeks. I am already sick to the teeth of it anyway.

Dubh Geannain

I doubt any of them will be calling to my door as I live in an apartment. Is Nick Killian definitely running for FF?

gmale

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

It is relevant however to question we are debating as to whether FG/Labour would stand up to Europe or not. So please don't detract from that point.

You haven't answered my question though. So please, do you believe FG/Labour will stand up to Europe? And if so, this time, let you explain why you believe it to be the case.

Ok, I'll answer your question, but you must answer mine in turn.

I do believe that FG & Lab in Govt. will go and "stand up to Europe" and enter renegotiations with the EU,ECB and IMF. They both stated they would:
Fine Gael
Labour

Will they succeed? Most likely they will. Although there are a number of key parts of the bailout agreement entered into by FF that should be renegotiated the most important part is the interest rate. The 5.8% will cost us dearly over the next couple of decades and this should be reduced. What gives me hope that they will be successful is that only today, the Germans announced that they are open to renegotiation of the interest rate today in the interest of solidarity:

Irish Times wrote:

"It has to be clear that interest rates as part of an EU/IMF programmes are set in a way that there are clear incentives for the countries concerned to return to markets,” said Mr Asmussen. But senior officials in Berlin say “solidarity isn’t a one-way street” and agreeing lower interest rates is conditional on agreement on new fiscal guarantees."

Back this up with statements from Chopra late last year that a new Govt here could renegotiate parts of the deal with the IMF.

So yes, I believe them when they say they will tackle Europe on a renegotiation and I am confident they will succeed due to the tIMF and Germany saying its not impossible.

Now answer me this, what evidence do you have to suggest they wont? Apart from the Lisbon treaty which they supported because they fundamentally agreed with it...you wouldnt want them to disagree with something for the sake of disagreeing with it?

Dubh Geannain

gmale wrote: »

Ok, I'll answer your question, but you must answer mine in turn.

NO!

Ah, only messing.

gmale wrote: »

Now answer me this, what evidence do you have to suggest they wont? Apart from the Lisbon treaty which they supported because they fundamentally agreed with it...you wouldnt want them to disagree with something for the sake of disagreeing with it?

Evidence is the key word here. The reason for my beliefs is I don't see any precedent to believe otherwise. They did meet with AJ back before Christmas and came out of the meeting chuffed that he said they might be able to renegotiate. This is what they will sell to the electorate. I hope to god they do. But I have no reason to believe their gusto is not built on naivety having not been in power for so long.

The guys in Europe can talk about possible renegotiations but it seems telling the bondholders to take a swim is out of the question. So don't be celebrating too much the shallow victory of a simple interest rate reduction. It makes sense for Europe to lower it anyway. Otherwise Ireland is going to find itself in a debt spiral, from which there is no escape.

I don't want to put Labour and FG in the same camp and from a European standpoint I see Labour (back by the unions) possibly standing up to Europe more than FG.

We've gone through the first of a series of budgets. The next ones regardless of who's sitting in Government has to be runner stamped by Europe. I wonder will they cry foul when the ECB comes back with a black pen through half their budget proposals next time round? Or will they just say to the electorate. "If we want our bailout money, we have to take our medicine, and it's FF's fault anyway". One thing we can both agree on. Time will tell. I hope you're right with your hope that we'll get a strong nationally orientated government. I'm starting to believe more and more that we won't.

gmale

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

We've gone through the first of a series of budgets. The next ones regardless of who's sitting in Government has to be runner stamped by Europe. I wonder will they cry foul when the ECB comes back with a black pen through half their budget proposals next time round? Or will they just say to the electorate. "If we want our bailout money, we have to take our medicine, and it's FF's fault anyway". One thing we can both agree on. Time will tell. I hope you're right with your hope that we'll get a strong nationally orientated government. I'm starting to believe more and more that we won't.

Thats very true, every budget until we have repaid every cent will have to be run past Brussels. It hurts!

Fianna Fail entered this country into two agreements:
1 - The Four Year Plan which aims to reduce our budget deficit to 3% by 2014 (note that the Europeans have given us to 2015 but we set ourselves the target of 2014).
2 - The 85 billion bailout to be repaid at a current interest rate of 5.8% (likely to be renegotiated downwards)

Wouldnt it be great if we could be like Iceland and say screw the bondholders? Wouldnt it be great if we could say to Merkel that German banks took a bet on Ireland and they lost, let them suffer, the Irish people should not be paying for the mistakes of German banks!

But, Fianna Fail and the Greens have entered into the those two agreements. Like you, (here is where I agree with you ) I dont believe that FG and Lab will ever be able to get rid of the shackles of the bail out, but I do believe they will do their best to fix the mistakes of FF and the Greens. Maybe they are naieve from lack of power, maybe I am naieve from being fed up with this shower.

I have no faith in SF or the other lefties in achieving anything in a renegotiation.

Dubh Geannain

gmale wrote: »

I have no faith in SF or the other lefties in achieving anything in a renegotiation.

SF have a very poor showing with regards economic know how and it's easy to shoot everything down when you are forever in opposition. Irelands needs a stronger left, because Labour are certainly not it. It's a void the ULA might be someday fill (the musings of a dreamer here).

I'll probably vote FG myself. My reasons being they are not union backed (that's for another debate) and I want to see if James Reilly is as good as his promise about tidying up the health service. Being a doctor he might have a better idea of where to start than Harney ever did. Things like health are items our politicians can control. Playing hardball with Europe, I don't believe they will.

PS: Enda Kenny though... wtf!?

gmale

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

PS: Enda Kenny though... wtf!?

I know! :eek:

rpurfield

sharon keoghan formerly of FF is running as an independent.her OH seamus o'neill is a councillor from duleek.according to what my father told me she was on the FF national executive and wanted the second nomination off them but they passed her over for that chap from ratoath so shes going as an independent.i reckon shell take a lot of votes from duleek and probably do FF major damage there.

on another note grange rath is part of louth now for this election.thomas byrne lives there so hows he able to run in meath east?

TurkeyBurger

Had a call at the door last week from 2 representatives from Regina Doherty's office.

I asked them some fairly general questions about Fine Gael's policies and was surprised that they could not answer them. If anything, it appeared to me that I was informing them about Fine Gael's policies.

My contact details were taken and a few days later I received a response from Regina Doherty. Unfortunately the response was little more than, "I will see what I can find out".

Based on this type of response, I am very reluctant to vote for Regina Doherty, or Fine Gael. I cannot get my head around the fact that Fine Gael are running candidates who do not appear to know the basics of Fine Gael's policies.

If the candidates do not know them and further, were not able to find out enough to formulate a proper response when questioned, I don't think they will do a great job of running the country.

stomprockin

I would not be to big into politics but do see a need for a big Change!
Politics needs new faces and not the same old arse holes getting into politics for them self's and jumping on the gravy train. the same old fat cats just getting involved to look after number 1. That's the way i see politics in this micky mouse state of ours!:)

So who do i vote for?

Sill undecided !

Sorry for the rant

ShooterSF

I received Shane cassells' recent flyer through the letter box. He does know it's not the local elections coming up?

DB74

ShooterSF wrote: »

I received Shane cassells' recent flyer through the letter box. He does know it's not the local elections coming up?

That's a bit bizarre given that he is running in Meath West!

Dubh Geannain

ShooterSF wrote: »

I received Shane cassells' recent flyer through the letter box. He does know it's not the local elections coming up?

My sentiments exactly. But what gets you votes? Getting medical cards for folks you know or plugging the fiscal deficit?

Dubh Geannain

I've reported Nick Killian for littering as he has posters up in Ratoath and the election hasn't even been called yet.

Floppybits

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

I've reported Nick Killian for littering as he has posters up in Ratoath and the election hasn't even been called yet.

I noticed that this morning on the way into work. I know that Killian is not that popular in the Ratoath at the moment, I think he will be struggling to get elected. Plus the court case there a few weeks ago wont help him.

racehill84

in fairness to nick hes a gud worker for the people and has done alot for the ratoath ashbounre area . i would like him to take the the seat mary wallace had and held since 1997 .both are get workers and should be thanked for wat they have done