Election 2011 - Mayo Style

nuac

Suggest that in these days of choices of multiple media that much postering is a waste of time and money.

Thankfully postering no longer permitted close to polling booths, and some towns have banned posters - e.g. Westport and Killarney in previous elections.

Some are traffic hazards due to bad location. In this windy weather they are a danger to pedestrians and vehicles if blown loose..

I know there is a long tradition associated with posters but should we move on to other forms of electioneering?

oscarBravo

Keep an eye on this - should be interesting - and don't forget to vote!

finisklin

oscarBravo wrote: »

Keep an eye on this - should be interesting - and don't forget to vote!

The list of candidates is incomplete......Rose Conway Walsh missing, M Kilcoyne and OAP candidate also missing. This will skew the result as the three mentioned are all strong credible candidates.......more so than the Green candidate (no disrespect intended, just that Green priorities are way down the list for Mayo voters, IMO).

oscarBravo

It will update - remember, the nominations haven't closed yet.

The result will probably be somewhat skewed by the boards.ie demographic anyway, but it's still a very, very interesting experiment.

mayo.mick

Fair play to boards for putting this poll up, it even got a mention on p.ie

castrolracing

Kristopherus wrote: »

My call is :Ring, Kenny, Calleary, O'Mahony/Mulherin and O'Mahony/Mulherin(loser) & Cowley & Kilcoyne for the last seat.

cant agree
Kenny, ring o mahoney are dead certs. Callery should be sound. last seat between mulhern and kilcoyne. Kilcoyne should pick up a lot of number 2s from Kenny in castlebar which will boost his vote he willalso get a lot fianna fail protest votes. I cant see Cowley getting too far.

castrolracing

Ilovelucy wrote: »

What is ichael Kilcoynes pedigree? On what basis will he be running? I have googled and cant find a lot of info. Thanks.

He is an undertaker and is heavily involved in consumer rights. Got a great vote in the council election. topped the poll in castlebar

castrolracing

I agree, Callery wont com in second, I think this will be it
1. Kenny
2. Ring
3. O`Mahoney
4. Callery
5. Mullhern/Cowley

O`Mahoney has a huge area to himself in southeast Mayo, Claremorris, Ballyhaunis, Knock, Kiltimagh, Kilmaine and into Ballinrobe. I would be very surprised if he doesnt get a massive vote. If the voters in Ballina get it right and vote for 2 locals, dont be surprised to see Mullhern sneak in. It is hard to see Kilcoyne repeating his big council election vote with Kenny in the same town although if as I expect Kenny to get 2 quotas Kilcoyne could benefit greatly from them.
I cant understand Sinn Fein putting up 2 candidates, surely they are splitting their vote are they not?

Kristopherus

castrolracing wrote: »

cant agree
Kenny, ring o mahoney are dead certs. Callery should be sound. last seat between mulhern and kilcoyne. Kilcoyne should pick up a lot of number 2s from Kenny in castlebar which will boost his vote he willalso get a lot fianna fail protest votes. I cant see Cowley getting too far.

Feel free to disagree!!! Your scenario is very believable as well. Fascinating for the last 2 seats in particular. The Kilcoyne factor is interesting. He will probably finish ahead of the local Shinner & a lot of her votes will go back to him.Plus he will pick up some 2s & 3s from Kenny and also from Cowley. He is a former member of Labour. Kenny & Ring will be heading the poll. As you have said O'Mahony has a huge area and if antipathy is rife towards FF he will pick up a lot of personal FF votes if only because of the "nice fellow" factor.It will be interesting to see how Cowley gets on in Achill, where there's only 1 Co. Councillor and he is FF. He got a lot of votes in the Barony(Erris/Belmullet) and he was a Shell to Sea supporter in 2002. There will be a Shinner up against him there as well. You would expect there's at least a quota for FF, so that might just do Calleary. I won't be betting on who the Chosen Five will be:)

Ugool

The new wind strategy being adapted by Mayo CC will zone enough land, if developed, to produce 28GW of power. That translated into income would equate to €7 billion per annnum. What percentage of that can we achieve? Well, that all depends on the new government and how serious they are in tackling the issues that hinder it's development. Lack of suitable grid and 20 year delays in getting to market all presided over by ESB, Eirgrid and the Dept. of Energy, all well paid members of this little State. How many of our Candidates are discussing this issue. Outside of Michelle Mulherin I haven't heard any.

finisklin

Ugool wrote: »

The new wind strategy being adapted by Mayo CC will zone enough land, if developed, to produce 28GW of power. That translated into income would equate to €7 billion per annnum. What percentage of that can we achieve? Well, that all depends on the new government and how serious they are in tackling the issues that hinder it's development. Lack of suitable grid and 20 year delays in getting to market all presided over by ESB, Eirgrid and the Dept. of Energy, all well paid members of this little State. How many of our Candidates are discussing this issue. Outside of Michelle Mulherin I haven't heard any.

Perhaps you can point to MM's reference on this matter so we can make an informed decision for ourselves? A link would be great.....(I don't buy the Western anymore!).

HarryPotter41

finisklin wrote: »

Perhaps you can point to MM's reference on this matter so we can make an informed decision for ourselves? A link would be great.....(I don't buy the Western anymore!).

Have heard references in relation to MM and lots of wind, but dunno if it was this :-)

Ugool

http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11101:poor-power-grid-preventing-renewable-energy-investment&catid=23:news&Itemid=46

Dermot McDonnell is a well informed opinion in the Energy field and is running as an Independant Candidate.

HarryPotter41

Ugool wrote: »

http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11101:poor-power-grid-preventing-renewable-energy-investment&catid=23:news&Itemid=46

Dermot McDonnell is a well informed opinion in the Energy field and is running as an Independant Candidate.

One line at a council meeting reported in the paper is discussing an issue?????

finisklin

The ket thing in this is to determine what the co co strategy is in relation to renewable energy though harnessing wave technology/energy will be only one component of this. MM's comments are in her role as chair of planning, economic development committee.

MM raises a fair point but until I see a concrete FG policy for this in Mayo I remain to be convinced......

Ugool

I agree it wouldn't constitute a discussion, but I have heard her on numerous occasions on Radio, at the Council meetings and read her contributions elsewhere. The fact that I cannot give you the recordings doesn't mean I didn't hear her.

finisklin

An admirable aim but can't see it working.......will be interesting to see if O'Mahony comes to North Mayo and Foxford this time around. I don't believe Ring for a minute when he says its a team game.....Bullsh*t!

Ring and Mulherin opt for transfer pact


Anton McNulty

FINE Gael took a major step towards winning an unprecedented fourth seat in Mayo when traditional sure vote winner Michael Ring asked his supporters to give councillor Michelle Mulherin their number two vote in order to get the Ballina based solicitor elected to the Dáil.

The voting strategy was outlined at Michael Ring’s election campaign launch in the Castlecourt Hotel in Westport on Friday night.

Cllr Mulherin was present at the launch where Deputy Ring’s Director of Elections, Patrick Durcan told supporters of the voting strategy which they hope will get four Fine Gael candidates elected for Mayo.

“We believe that if four seats are to be won, Fine Gael supporters in this area should cast their number one vote for Michael Ring and their number two for Michelle Mulherin.
“That is the directive of the constituency executive and that is the directive we are encouraging you to follow. At the end of the day the object is to achieve four seats, we won’t do that by voting wildly, we will do that by voting in a scientific and planned way,” he said.

Vote management has been seen as an Achilles heal in Fine Gael’s quest for the fourth seat with the four candidates eager to hold onto as much territory as possible. Over the last week there was intense negotiation between the various candidates and their Director of Elections and an agreement was reached by both Michael Ring and Enda Kenny to cede some ground to Michelle Mulherin and John O’Mahony.

While Michael Ring’s supporters have been asked to back Mulherin, Michael Sloyan, the Fine Gael Director of Elections in Mayo confirmed to The Mayo News that no such agreement has been reached to ask Kenny’s supporters to give John O’Mahony their number two vote but a decision on it is expected to be made during the week.

Speaking to The Mayo News at his election launch, Deputy Ring said that he believes that if the four candidates win their area they have a chance of winning the four seats.

However he stressed that he faced the most challenges in terms of candidates in his area and would not take too kindly to other candidates canvassing in his area.

“I believe we will win the four seats if we all win our four areas. We have a strategy in place and I have given a lot of ground to Michelle Mulherin and John O’Mahoney, and I am hoping they will stick to it. Already the signals are not very good but if that’s the way they’ll play it, we will end up with three seats instead of four.

It has to be a team game and everyone will have to play their part and I will play mine. I gave up ground and so did Kenny and we are taking a big risk but we did it for the sake of the party,” he said.
A large number of supporters attended Deputy Ring’s launch including many of the local town and county councillors. In his address, Deputy Ring attacked the new Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and said Fine Gael would put the country first.

“I have a word for Micheál Martin. He likes to think he is cleaner than thou but at the end of the day he was a senior minister in the cabinet of the worst government since the foundation of the state.
They have hurt everyone in this country and I never thought the day would come that the IMF would be brought in by the great Republican party of Fianna Fáil. People are looking for hope and a new beginning. They are frightened about their family, their jobs and the country and we have to give them confidence and hope.”

No complacency

Complacency was the buzz word at Ring’s election campaign launch with supporters reminded that the election had not yet been won and nothing could be taken for granted. Each councillor who spoke at the launch warned not to let complacency set into the campaign and to ‘put the shoulder to the wheel’ until election day.

“This is a battle we cannot be complacent about,” warned Westport councillor John O’Malley. “We are not in government and we need to get every vote out. We are on a roll here but we have to keep our feet on the ground and canvass like we never canvassed before.” Cllr Austin Francis O’Malley said it was great to see Fine Gael on the verge of being the biggest party in Ireland and urged canvassers to get to every door in the county. Cllr Michelle Mulherin said that the Fine Gael party would give people hope and despite the economic problems it was an ‘exciting time for the country’. She said the people should not give up hope and to build on the momentum generated by Fine Gael.

Patrick Durcan delighted the supporters when he took a swipe at the state of the Fianna Fáil party in Mayo when commenting that the campaign so far was lonely because ‘we haven’t found the Fianna Fáil party anywhere’. Erris based councillor Gerry Coyle hit out at the ‘whiter than white’ Micheál Martin and claimed that both Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin had brought hardship on the country in the past and told supporters to be proud members of the Fine Gael party.

“They have brought the IMF here but it has not been Fianna Fáil’s first time. And it’s not Sinn Féin’s first time if you can remember back. I’m not calling for us to be looking back but it is nice to remember a Civil War that has cost thousands of lives and a so called fight for freedom which for 35 years killed thousands. And the border never moved a millimetre either way since Collins signed the Treaty in 1921.

“Don’t be afraid to stand up to Sinn Féin and the whiter than whites when they come knocking on your door saying all will be different. Stick your chest out and be proud of being a supporter of Fine Gael and Michael Ring,” he concluded.

HarryPotter41

finisklin wrote: »

“They have brought the IMF here but it has not been Fianna Fáil’s first time. And it’s not Sinn Féin’s first time if you can remember back. I’m not calling for us to be looking back but it is nice to remember a Civil War that has cost thousands of lives and a so called fight for freedom which for 35 years killed thousands. And the border never moved a millimetre either way since Collins signed the Treaty in 1921.

“Don’t be afraid to stand up to Sinn Féin and the whiter than whites when they come knocking on your door saying all will be different. Stick your chest out and be proud of being a supporter of Fine Gael and Michael Ring,” he concluded.

Good lord, what wind.

Ugool

finisklin wrote: »

The ket thing in this is to determine what the co co strategy is in relation to renewable energy though harnessing wave technology/energy will be only one component of this. MM's comments are in her role as chair of planning, economic development committee.

MM raises a fair point but until I see a concrete FG policy for this in Mayo I remain to be convinced......

I agree with that. Until we see a comprehensive policy from the new Government on Eirgrid, ESB, CER, Bord na Mona etc we in Mayo will still be left behind without a grid or export market.

Cosmo Kramer

HarryPotter41 wrote: »

Good lord, what wind.

That sums up the entire article to be honest.

I have seen a side of Michael Ring first hand that he'd much prefer the electorate not to see and I can tell you that he is a man with no interest other than self interest. The way I have seen him impose himself on the funerals of people who neither knew him or supported him is appalling.

Won't stop him sailing past the quota though.

patgill

Ugool wrote: »

I agree with that. Until we see a comprehensive policy from the new Government on Eirgrid, ESB, CER, Bord na Mona etc we in Mayo will still be left behind without a grid or export market.

Mayo has the natural resources to become an economic powerhouse with jobs galore.

Have any of the candidates even as much as mentioned this fact.

HarryPotter41

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

That sums up the entire article to be honest.

I have seen a side of Michael Ring first hand that he'd much prefer the electorate not to see and I can tell you that he is a man with no interest other than self interest. The way I have seen him impose himself on the funerals of people who neither knew him or supported him is appalling.

Won't stop him sailing past the quota though.

I agree, he came to my mothers funeral, had to keep a wary eye on the coffin in case she came back to life to kill him. He enevr met ger in his life and knew none of the family. Slightly galling.

yop

HarryPotter41 wrote: »

I agree, he came to my mothers funeral, had to keep a wary eye on the coffin in case she came back to life to kill him. He enevr met ger in his life and knew none of the family. Slightly galling.

Again thats what, unfortunately, gets votes in Mayo. Personally I find it pathetic that ever fkn policitican has time to visit a load of funerals every day, time which our tax payers money is paying for and I am sure its going down on the expenses.

Again it shows the mentality of the local policticians.

As for E Kenny and his rant which I heard on Today FM, embarrassing is the word. NONE of them deserve to be running our country, its like watching Killinaskully with some of them.

Gilmore is a clown, Kenny is like a wax work and Martin, well he is just part of them robbing fukers who have ruined our Country.

HarryPotter41

yop wrote: »

Again thats what, unfortunately, gets votes in Mayo. Personally I find it pathetic that ever fkn policitican has time to visit a load of funerals every day, time which our tax payers money is paying for and I am sure its going down on the expenses.

Again it shows the mentality of the local policticians.

As for E Kenny and his rant which I heard on Today FM, embarrassing is the word. NONE of them deserve to be running our country, its like watching Killinaskully with some of them.

Gilmore is a clown, Kenny is like a wax work and Martin, well he is just part of them robbing fukers who have ruined our Country.

I have no problem with them going to funerals, once they actually know either the person or some of the family. 2 of the 3 TDs at my mothers funeral knew nobody in the family. The 3rd I know for almost 20 years so to me that's different.

Ugool

HarryPotter41 wrote: »

I have no problem with them going to funerals, once they actually know either the person or some of the family. 2 of the 3 TDs at my mothers funeral knew nobody in the family. The 3rd I know for almost 20 years so to me that's different.

If ever “Hearse chasing” becomes an Olympic sport my money is on Ring to bring home the gold. I know a man whose funeral he attended, and later sent him a letter looking for his support.

HarryPotter41

Ugool wrote: »

If ever “Hearse chasing” becomes an Olympic sport my money is on Ring to bring home the gold. I know a man whose funeral he attended, and later sent him a letter looking for his support.

The Sunday Times didn't give him the nickname "14 funerals a day" for nothing. It really annoys me when he insists on going to the funerals of lifetime FF supporters, smacks more of disrespect than respect.

mayotom

HarryPotter41 wrote: »

The Sunday Times didn't give him the nickname "14 funerals a day" for nothing. It really annoys me when he insists on going to the funerals of lifetime FF supporters, smacks more of disrespect than respect.

shocking, why is he not doing his job in the Dail and not running from one funeral to another. Its disrespectful and is the main reason why I would give him number 12 on my ballot, behind the green and Calleary

loldog

Why is there no FF candidate in PJ Morley's old base? I'm sure there's a lot in east Mayo would still vote FF, in spite of everything.

.

HarryPotter41

mayotom wrote: »

shocking, why is he not doing his job in the Dail and not running from one funeral to another. Its disrespectful and is the main reason why I would give him number 12 on my ballot, behind the green and Calleary

Because sadly it still impresses some people, was at a funeral the other day where he was ahead of me and the family were so thankful to him it was scary.

HarryPotter41

loldog wrote: »

Why is there no FF candidate in PJ Morley's old base? I'm sure there's a lot in east Mayo would still vote FF, in spite of everything.

.

Because no one was willing to put their heads above the parapet, another reason that after this election FF needs to be purged of the self serving cowards who are interested in only themselves and not serving the public. Am sharpening my hatchet for that day.