C&H General Election Thread

amacachi

flyswatter wrote: »

There is this young politician who is a senator now who I had a decent opinion on beforehand. I thought this fella can't be bad 'cos he gave me a free pen at a train station once (Only joking )

Now I've heard that he backed a local disabled child to get a place in a special needs school. Fair enough, but then he wrote to his original school and basically claimed all the credit for it when the child was accepted into said school despite the fact that this would have probably happened anyway. Some local voters will lap that up but it's all very fickle to me.

I still have some research to do though as to which politicians are doing a good job.

Mind mentioning who that is?
Probably my biggest bugbear in politics after the localisation of national elections is the Seanad appointments. The only 3 members I've ever had a reason to read about were all appointed shortly after failing in the previous Dáil elections. Good ol' democracy eh?:rolleyes:

Pygmalion wrote: »

National level, definitely.
Might seem good to get someone who'll fix potholes and stuff, but that's for the local government to deal with, and they're much more capable of it, if a TD is concerning himself with that kind of stuff he's probably neglecting his more important duties.

Also they'll pick party line over their constituents every single time for the most part anyway, so as much as voting for the person and not the party sounds nice, it doesn't actually mean **** unless they hold a lot of sway in their party (or have no party), you're giving their party an extra vote, with little to no chance of individual say.

You're voting for the party on national issues and for planning permission on a local level. :pac:

flyswatter

amacachi wrote: »

Mind mentioning who that is?
Probably my biggest bugbear in politics after the localisation of national elections is the Seanad appointments. The only 3 members I've ever had a reason to read about were all appointed shortly after failing in the previous Dáil elections. Good ol' democracy eh?:rolleyes:

I wasn't going to mention it but since you asked might as well say it was James Carroll.

I think the Seanad is a waste of money personally. I went in there one day on a tour and they were discussing the quality of Channel 4's documentary output and how the channel was being dumbed down with shows like Big Brother!

amacachi

flyswatter wrote: »

I wasn't going to mention it but since you asked might as well say it was James Carroll.

Get out.

I think the Seanad is a waste of money personally. I went in there one day on a tour and they were discussing the quality of Channel 4's documentary output and how the channel was being dumbed down with shows like Big Brother!

It could be useful if it had teeth but it doesn't and it never will. Also it does have some useful hearings etc. but good luck finding anyone reporting on them.

flyswatter

amacachi wrote: »

Get out.

Go on, elaborate

amacachi

flyswatter wrote: »

Go on, elaborate

I believe that some people blame his party for some of the issues currently facing the country.

flyswatter

amacachi wrote: »

I believe that some people blame his party for some of the issues currently facing the country.

Obviously I agree with you. I thought you were saying "Get out" 'cos I was critical of him.

amacachi

flyswatter wrote: »

Obviously I agree with you. I thought you were saying "Get out" 'cos I was critical of him.

Ah right, actually didn't realise the next paragraph was about him so I thought you were doing anything but criticising him. :pac:

norwegianwood

Two months I'm missing the voting by...sickened.
Probably would've been FG or Labour though.

kev9100

Thought this might be interesting. It's a test that shows you where on the political spectrum you are. I have a few issues with it, but it is fairly accurate. Linkies to test


To anyone who's interested, this where I was on it. Tbh, I thought I would come out considerably more to the left but like I said, it is broadly accurate.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

I'm quite left-wing and liked political compass but friends of mine who are more to the right have told me they think its biased to give most people left-wing results. I think they might be right, some of the questions are very loaded.

kev9100

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

I'm quite left-wing and liked political compass but friends of mine who are more to the right have told me they think its biased to give most people left-wing results. I think they might be right, some of the questions are very loaded.

There are definitely problems with it and the questions need an update. I also think he places too many parties on the Right.

bythewoods

I'd be right wing, although not excessively so... Quite close to the centre really.

I've done that test before, and I think it is a bit outdated tbh.
Anyway, I came out on the right, and as a raging social libertarian. I don't think the questions really, eh, were that relevant.

Also, I'd take issue with this:



Labour don't belong there, and FG/FF should be closer to the centre.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

Some of the questions are totally irrelevant such as ones about your reliogous beliefs... I know people normally associate religion with being right-wing but thats not always the case. I myself came out somewhere near kev9100.

KnifeWRENCH

I posted about this in the politics forum recently: http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=70248169&postcount=51 As you can see, I've gone from socially liberal lefty to socially liberal righty in the space of two yedars or so.

I suppose I'm centrist when it comes to economic issues (slightly more right leaning, but not to the extent that I'd be right-wing.) When it comes to social issues and stuff I'd definitely have more in common with left-wing parties; basically, the state should never interfere with what people do in their private personal lives etc.

This is why I'm voting Labour; it's probably the closest thing to my ideology currently in Irish politics. (I probably should have been a Progressive Democrat, but they died out...) I'm not a fan of the way Labour are in bed with the trade unions all the time, but I have more gripes with FF, FG, SF and Greens than I have with Labour so I don't have much choice. (No independents running in my area afaik)

unknown13

Here is the political spectrum IMO

United Left Alliance (ULA) - Far Left
Sinn Fein - Not as far left as ULA but further left than Labour
Labour - Left
Greens - Left (case could be made about centre left)
Fine Gael - Centre
Fianna Fail - Centre Right
PD's (defunct thank fúck, using it for comparison) - Right

KnifeWRENCH

^ I'd swap FF and FG in that. FG are more right leaning than FF.
I'd also put both Greens and Labour at centre-left.
And while the PD's were a right wing party in terms of the economy, it should be pointed out they were still fairly liberal and weren't social conservatives or traditionalists.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

KnifeWRENCH wrote: »

This is why I'm voting Labour; it's probably the closest thing to my ideology currently in Irish politics. (I probably should have been a Progressive Democrat, but they died out...) I'm not a fan of the way Labour are in bed with the trade unions all the time, but I have more gripes with FF, FG, SF and Greens than I have with Labour so I don't have much choice. (No independents running in my area afaik)

PDs died out in my opinion because A: They began to drift into social conservatism as well as being economically right-wing, for example their opposition to gay marriage and their blocking of a civil partnerships bill, and B: They chose a horribly arrogant and unlikeable man as party leader who alienated many voters. I was delighted to see people cheering and shouting abuse at McDowell as he left the count centre.

I'd have no problem with a genuinely liberal party in Irish politics, I wouldnt agree with some of their policies but I'd prefer them to the corruption of Fianna Fail and the social conservatism of Fine Gael. However I wasn't at all sorry to see the PD's go.

KnifeWRENCH

Fair point. I wonder if being in Government with FF was what led them towards social conservatism? I never had any particular opinion on McDowell but he certainly wasn't a good leader for them! I remember Harney being well liked and admired when she was leading them. Seems so long ago now; now all she'll be remembered for is as a much loathed Minister for Health.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

She could redeem herself yet- Michael Martin was once a very much disliked Minister for Health but now hes a surprisingly well-liked party leader.

KnifeWRENCH

The main reason he's well-liked is simply because he's not Brian Cowen.

And I think Harney's retiring, so she's gonna leave politics on a bad note. I'm sure her massive pension will console her though....

unknown13

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

She could redeem herself yet- Michael Martin was once a very much disliked Minister for Health but now hes a surprisingly well-liked party leader.

He was disliked because he told absolutely everyone who objected to the smoking ban to shut the fúck up, this is what is happening like it or not.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

KnifeWRENCH wrote: »

The main reason he's well-liked is simply because he's not Brian Cowen.

And I think Harney's retiring, so she's gonna leave politics on a bad note. I'm sure her massive pension will console her though....

I hate Fiann Fail and I had to admit he done some job in that tv3 debate. They won't go away you know...

Her as well? Will there be anyone left in the Dail after this election?

unknown13 wrote: »

He was disliked by smokers because he told absolutely everyone who objected to the smoking ban to shut the fúck up, this is what is happening like it or not.

He was also disliked because while Irelands economy had apparently never been better our hospitals were a shambles. He was hated by anyone who had family members with CF myself included as it seemed they'd never be able to get the transplants they needed in Ireland.

My dad also detests him because hes from Cork so theres that as well :pac:

Insect Overlord

unknown13 wrote: »

He was disliked because he told absolutely everyone who objected to the smoking ban to shut the fúck up, this is what is happening like it or not.

Whether or not that was the only reason, it's proven a very successful initiative.

As for the compass, here's how mine turned out:



Almost identical to kev9100's! :eek:

Grindylow

I got a similar one too!



Economic Left/Right: -4.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.82

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Almost identical to kev9100's! :eek:

And Duffys!

Pygmalion

lolol

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

Pygmalions a commie :eek:

unknown13

Screaminmidget

Huh.

kev9100

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Whether or not that was the only reason, it's proven a very successful initiative.




Almost identical to kev9100's! :eek:

It has worked in the sense that it made pubs a lot better for non-smokers, there is also evidence that it hit a lot of pubs quite badly.(I still think that overall it was a good idea).


Oh, and good man;).