A genuine appeal to voters in Cork South Central

raddo

Who to vote for so??
There is no way that I could bring myself to vote for some of the Fine Gael candidates.
Two of them are living off their family history and the other I feel would make an excellent councillor but not a TD.
Labours candidates are practically non existant both nationally and locally.
Independents, how much influence etc can any of them running really feel that they would have on an incoming government??
So that leaves FF, because of the OP lets assume we don't vote for Micheal Martin.
Also running for FF is Michael McGrath, a well educated, intelligent, young and forward thinking person. He seems to be getting lost in all the hype.
I will be voting for Michael McGrath as I feel he most suits my beliefs and ideas.
It is up to each individual person to decide who they wish to vote for but why should progressive thinking young candidates be outcast because of their party history!!

trebormurf

McGrath might be young & forward thinking but his association with FF will see him losing his seat while good ol Micheal will saunter back into the Dail despite being minister for education (pupil:teacher ratios about to increase, special needs funding cut etc) minister for health (HSE) minister for enterprise (FAS scandal) & being a senior member of the cabinet that agreed to the blanket bank guarantee. He only challenged Cowen when he realized his own seat as under threat. Now that he's leader, he's a shoe in to be elected again & he's good ol Micheal the next Jack Lynch etc. If for whatever reason you are crazy enough to vote FF, then maybe McGrath is the candidate to vote for but as I've said voting for FF is madness-North Central voter.

conan doyle

Oh, yes do vote for Mc Grath and Martin, lets give them another 14 years to wreck the country. You are entitled to your opinion but one things for sure i wont be voting for them my conscious wont allow me to be party to the further destruction of this country. I love it far too much for that!

Buceph

trebormurf wrote: »

McGrath might be young & forward thinking but his association with FF will see him losing his seat while good ol Micheal will saunter back into the Dail despite being minister for education (pupil:teacher ratios about to increase, special needs funding cut etc) minister for health (HSE) minister for enterprise (FAS scandal) & being a senior member of the cabinet that agreed to the blanket bank guarantee. He only challenged Cowen when he realized his own seat as under threat. Now that he's leader, he's a shoe in to be elected again & he's good ol Micheal the next Jack Lynch etc. If for whatever reason you are crazy enough to vote FF, then maybe McGrath is the candidate to vote for but as I've said voting for FF is madness-North Central voter.

One FF candidate is getting in in Cork South Central. I'd much prefer it to be McGrath than Martin. He has far less blood on his hands, actually did some good work on the committees he sat on, and has spoken well without handwaving all the FF problems away. If die-hard FF'ers are going to vote for them anyway, give your vote to the younger guy who has a chance of changing the party for the better.




As for me. Although I don't particularly like the FG candidates in CSC, I'll still be giving them my 1,2,3 as I think their party is best for the country.

conan doyle

Good for you at least you are thinking about party politics and looking for change. So glad to hear some people are thinking of the outcome for the country. I just cant understand how people would vote FF in again. It's like wearing shoes that cut your feet, give you pain and make your life miserable. When finally you get a chance to get new ones what do you do? CHOOSE TO LIVE WITH THE MISERY AND KEEP THE OLD ONE BECAUSE YOU ARE SCARED.

raddo

I will vote for McGrath as I feel he is the best candidate in the Cork South Central.
Why should I vote for inferior politicians just because of their party alligence?

Judes

Remember it's OUR COUNTRY!!! Look at the mess it's in. What do you think it will take to improve things.

Just because Mr. Martin is from Cork that isn't a reason to vote for him. What has he done for Cork in the past? What has he promised to do in the future? Does anyone actually believe it will happen???

People who have grown up in a political family, are interested in politics and put themselves forward - still have to get votes on their own merit.

Tomorrow is a hugely important day to us all - VOTE sensibly. I don't agree with spoiling votes I consider that cowardly. If you spoil a vote, or don't bother voting - then you really don't care about OUR COUNTRY!!! And some of our ancestors died for that right.

conan doyle

See your point but just remember one tiny detail he might be a good man I'm not saying he isnt but if he gets in he will toe the party line come what may. So in effect you are voting for a good man who will be the mouth piece for the worst government we ever had

two wheels good

raddo wrote: »

Why should I vote for inferior politicians just because of their party alligence?

Because:
- the "inferior" candidate will be voting for better policies at the national level
- because the "inferior" candidate has not been party to the mismanagement of the country finances and the cronyism that have been rife for the past decade and more.

There is no ideal choice of candidate. Before I vote I have to decide which compromise I'm prepared to make.

Stark

He's that fella with his face on the news. Of course I'll be voting for him.

conan doyle

Appreciate your point but for me my self imposed moratorium has begun but I will be watching with anticipation at the counts

two wheels good

stwome01 wrote: »

1. I keep asking myself if the other parties were in power would things have turned out differently. The answer is probably but there is no evidence that it would have been any better.

FF have make some colossal mistakes eg bank bailout but IMHO I think some of these decisions were made in a rush (they had to be to stop a run on the banks) on bad information from Senior Public Sector workers

FF refused to heed any warnings about the booming property market and failed to remove the developer tax breaks.
There was a particular arrogance about FF prior to the crisis. Remember B.Ahern and the "if you disagree go and commit suicide" comment, I can't remember who said "the boom just got boomier". FF were tight with the developers. B.Ahern telling Dunne "We go back a long way" As Fintan O'Toole describes in "A ship of Fools" (central to my political education for the Celtic Tiger years) there was a sense of invulnerability among FF and the developers and the banksters. Has anyone appeared in court yet?

This isn't the first time that FG had to step in to pick up the pieces after FF financial mismanagement, as I was reminded by a recent interview with Garret Fitzgerald.

This thread will sum it up so much better.

I particularly like this one:
21. In September 2006, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern accepted that he had appointed people who gave him money to State boards, but he insisted that he did not appoint them because they gave him money. He said he had appointed them because they were his friends.

raddo

Just as a follow up to the main thread.

Please vote!!
Doesn't matter who you vote for, just make sure you do.
It is your right as an Irish Citizen.

hurling_lad

So basically:

GENUINE APPEAL TO VOTERS:
Don't vote for candidate X because I don't want you to.


ffs.

babo9

raddo wrote: »

Just as a follow up to the main thread.

Please vote!!
Doesn't matter who you vote for, just make sure you do.
It is your right as an Irish Citizen.

And it's also their right not to vote if they don't want to!

What's ppls obsession with making sure people vote?
If you know sweet f**k all about politics and you go down and vote purely for the sake of voting, is it not as bad as not voting? (if not worse - at least you give ppl who give a toss the chance to have an impact if you don't vote).

Personally I know little to nothing about anything politics related and circumstances have dictated I have been very out of the loop in the goings on of the last 6 months. I will, however, be voting as I have made an attempt to educate myself recently so I can vote with some reason.
I do think ppl should make an attempt to educate themselves and vote but I don't see why someone who will not and has not made any attempt to educate themselves and doesn't care one way or the other should vote, what is essentially randomly, for the sake of voting!

raddo

I have no problem with people choosing not to vote.
But are they then entitled to voice their opinion on the government???

babo9

raddo wrote: »

I have no problem with people choosing not to vote.
But are they then entitled to voice their opinion on the government???

Entitled to do what they want, not necessarily be listened to though, tell um feck off because they didn't vote :P

But if they are the kind of people that will be paying enough attention to the goverment that they can give opinions, then they are the type of people who should vote for their own sakes, if they don't they're just shooting themselves in the foot!

Stark

Because they don't support any of the candidates on offer?

trebormurf

In some countries people are jailed for not voting.

minidazzler

I literally support none of the candidates on offer, and don't give a tupenny sh1te about parties economic policies because they won't make a difference, I cast my vote based on the lesser issues that would be all over the news if the country wasn't in the sh1tter. Went Labour for 1 & 2, then 3 Independants who I know little about, but seem alright from the look.

My mam voted MM, because she always does and then said to me "sure he was at the polling station, none of the others were" :rolleyes: I'm not sure if she realises there is more than one polling station, or she was trying to justify voting again for someone who has the strongest of ties with the most weak moralled party.

trebormurf wrote: »

In some countries people are jailed for not voting.

And in some countries you are fined for not voting, in some you have to pay a Poll tax to vote, and in some there is no vote. We aren't any of those countries though

:mad:

It's embarrassing to be living in Cork South Central after the first count results. At least the national result is disappointing for Fianna WrecktheCountry Fail.

corkcomp

RoverJames wrote: »

:mad:

It's embarrassing to be living in Cork South Central after the first count results. At least the national result is disappointing for Fianna WrecktheCountry Fail.

agreed on the country wide result but the cork tally is shocking, it shows no matter what they do (and tbh they couldnt have done much worse) a huge number of people still go out and put no. 1 next to their name.

Outkast_IRE

Well in fairness FF was still down 17% in south central compared to the last election , and every poll going was saying Martin was going to take a seat more than likely first .
People voted for the man not the party , i know a few people who voted for him just cause he lives near her , no other reason .

thejuggler

Looks like many voters in CSC did not heed my appeal. So now Martin has his seat but he'll be fairly lonely on the opposition benches with only 20 of his FF colleagues. He got a large sympathy vote I expect.

minidazzler

I knew that Martin was getting in, I think we all knew that, as party leader cork people were gonna vote for him just because he could have been taoiseach. But McGrath? WTF? What has that tool ever done? Not locally or nationally as far as I can tell. Never even heard of him before this election.

cookie75

I can't understand how Cork is about to return 3 Fianna FAIL candidates this makes no sense whatsoever

Stargate

RoverJames wrote: »

:mad:

It's embarrassing to be living in Cork South Central after the first count results. At least the national result is disappointing for Fianna WrecktheCountry Fail.

I know everyones entitled to voTe as they see fit , but couldnt agree more with you RoverJames , whatever about MM getting in ( In first place as well ) whats the story with McGrath ???

Do people NOT remember what they did to this country?

Aww sur il give him No 1 , he`s wan of our own ......JEZ ! :rolleyes:

edit : I pray we wont be back doing this again in 18 months ....perish the thought !

beer enigma

thejuggler wrote: »

If anyone in Cork South Central is considering giving Micheal Martin a preference on Friday I would ask them to ask themselves why? Is it because he is party leader? Because he has had a high media profile in the last month? Because he's one of our own?

No - because he's personally helped me retain the special needs assistant hours for my son at school - my son is important to me & I resent being told how to vote - this is a democracy

Andip

Andip wrote: »

No - because he's personally helped me retain the special needs assistant hours for my son at school - my son is important to me & I resent being told how to vote - this is a democracy

Fair play

What about everyone else though that he didn't help, if FF hadn't made absolute sh1t of the country and then had to cut everything perhaps his help wouldn't have been needed. Half of the problem with this country is the way political sway can help individual cases. If the rules were fair across the board no such personal help should be required.

Kimono-Girl

minidazzler wrote: »

I knew that Martin was getting in, I think we all knew that, as party leader cork people were gonna vote for him just because he could have been taoiseach. But McGrath? WTF? What has that tool ever done? Not locally or nationally as far as I can tell. Never even heard of him before this election.

HE has done quite alot of work in the passage west/mount oval/douglas/carrigaline/ringaskiddy area, Many people from these area's voted for him as a result of his work, not voted against him for what his party-members have done.

cookie75 wrote: »

I can't understand how Cork is about to return 3 Fianna FAIL candidates this makes no sense whatsoever

it does when two of those have done quite alot of work in and for the cork area.

Stargate wrote: »

I know everyones entitled to voTe as they see fit , but couldnt agree more with you RoverJames , whatever about MM getting in ( In first place as well ) whats the story with McGrath ???

Do people NOT remember what they did to this country?

Aww sur il give him No 1 , he`s wan of our own ......JEZ ! :rolleyes:

edit : I pray we wont be back doing this again in 18 months ....perish the thought !

i remember what martin/mcgrath did for cork, without them mount oval wouldn't have their school, without them donnybrook would never have gotten money to do up the footpaths and next the roads to make them safer...i could continue for a good while here.
so like i said what their counterpart's did may have been wrong but the good those two have done for cork and beyond have outweighed the bad, and clearly 10,000 voters agree with me.

RoverJames wrote: »

Fair play

What about everyone else though that he didn't help, if FF hadn't made absolute sh1t of the country and then had to cut everything perhaps his help wouldn't have been needed. Half of the problem with this country is the way political sway can help individual cases. If the rules were fair across the board no such personal help should be required.

i agree no such personal help should be required but unfortunately it is,
and i think it is a positive thing to see politicians helping those who the system let down, and quite a lot of people i canvassed had said they were voting for a particular person because they were fantastic in helping them/a relative/the local area.