Local Elections 2014: What issues will you be raising with candidates on the door?

kaislinn

Department of Politics and Public Administration researchers at UL have put together a new profiling website. It compares candidates policy views with your own. Lots of areas covered aren't relevant to local government, but it's interesting nonetheless!

whichcandidate.ie

banie01

In the whole leadup to these Local/European Elections so far I have only had 1 candidate canvass my door(Joe Crowley Fianna Faíl)
The other candidates have been conspicuous by their absence.
My main concerns for my local representative are simple, Be knowledgeable and responsive to my locality's issues.
To be aware of the issues affecting my neighbourhood, be they traffic calming, Street Signage, Road and green area maintenance, Social housing policy and its impact on neighbourhoods.
To be responsive and knowledgeable about any of the potential issues that will impact on the locality that will fall withinn the councils remit.

My big worry with the forthcoming local elections is that many candidates, in particular the AAA and many of the independents are running their campaigns based on national issues.
Yes Austerity is a bollix,
Yes the Government are heaping misery on those of us least able to afford it,
Yes the Household Tax and the Water Charges are onerous.
But none of these policies are implemented in a council chamber and neither can they be altered there.
Too many people will vote Independent/SF/AAA or any other flavour of independent in the hope of ''teaching'' the government a lesson.
Maybe we hope forlonly that a strong independent vote will force a root and branch change in Government policies and spar some kind of grassroots political change that will lead to a viable alternative choice for a next government?
Yet by the time a General election comes around we find a government formed by one of the main 2 in coalition with a junior partner who usually pays a heavy price in the subsequent poll whilst Fine Gael/Fine Fail slink off into opposition to recover and start the cycle again.
We consistently vote in our national representatives on the basis of the said same ''local'' issues rather than on the basis of any coherent manifesto or policies....
Its more a case of ''sure doesn't he go to every funeral'' or ''he got that pot hole sorted''
Which would be grand if they were councillors
But not for potential TD's!

Wise Old Elf

^^
Well said.
I've had one actual caller (an existing FG Cllr), one Labour cllr who's actually appeared a few times in the last few years but not recently, otherwise it's been leaflets thrown in the door while we're at work. Will be interested to see who appears between now and election time.

panda100

Local politics are inextricably linked with national politics. You cannot separate the two imo.

Will vote AAA as I believe they are the most progressive off a pretty poor bunch. Will spoil my vote for EU elections as there is not one half credible candidate.

Kess73

What I have noticed this time around is that many of those running are not prepared to have a discussion when going door to door.

By discussion I mean they are not prepared to give their own views when asked a question about local issues, and/or are not prepared to even say what exactly they will personally be trying to do if elected.

Have actually had a few say to me, and I am paraphrasing a little of course, things like:

"Oh sorry I am just dropping in leaflets"

"No we (his party) don't discuss issues on doorsteps"

"I am focussed on the bigger issues and as such would not be running on local issues"


Once I get a line like the above I just hand their leaflet back to them, and tell them to go waste someone else's time.

FF and FG candidates I have found the worst for coming out with lines like the above.

Kess73

panda100 wrote: »

Local politics are inextricably linked with national politics. You cannot separate the two imo.

Will vote AAA as I believe they are the most progressive off a pretty poor bunch. Will spoil my vote for EU elections as there is not one half credible candidate.

Of course you can. Some areas will have very specific issues that other areas will not have.

If folks running for seats in the local election cannot be bothered to deal with issues in the areas they are trying to run for votes, then they should not be running at all imho.

If trying to combat national issues is the main aim of a candidate, then they should be putting themselves forward when there is a general election rather than trying to use national issues only when campaigning for a local election.

Wise Old Elf

Kess73 wrote: »

What I have noticed this time around is that many of those running are not prepared to have a discussion when going door to door.

By discussion I mean they are not prepared to give their own views when asked a question about local issues, and/or are not prepared to even say what exactly they will personally be trying to do if elected.

Have actually had a few say to me, and I am paraphrasing a little of course, things like:

"Oh sorry I am just dropping in leaflets"

"No we (his party) don't discuss issues on doorsteps"

"I am focussed on the bigger issues and as such would not be running on local issues"


Once I get a line like the above I just hand their leaflet back to them, and tell them to go waste someone else's time.

FF and FG candidates I have found the worst for coming out with lines like the above.

I've had a few of those "handing in leaflets" people, their line is usually along the line of "he could do with a few votes". Tell me why I should vote for him then!

I haven't decided who I'll vote for yet, but having spoken to a few, and read others' leaflets, there are only 2 (so far) who seem to understand the office they're running for, and have focussed their literature and campaign on issues they can affect. This includes some of the usual party suspects.

Kess73

Disco Stuart wrote: »

I've had a few of those "handing in leaflets" people, their line is usually along the line of "he could do with a few votes". Tell me why I should vote for him then!

I haven't decided who I'll vote for yet, but having spoken to a few, and read others' leaflets, there are only 2 (so far) who seem to understand the office they're running for, and have focussed their literature and campaign on issues they can affect. This includes some of the usual party suspects.

Well if it was people just handing out flyers for a candidate then I would say fair enough, but it was the actual candidates that tried the "not discussing issues on doorsteps" line with me.

If they don't have an interest in talking to the people whose votes they want, then they have no business running in any election.

Mc Love

What do you have to do to run for office, seems like a right jolly!

EmmaGEM11

I've noticed a lot of "sorry we missed you notices", I reckon they time when they call to miss the voters.

I have a lot to say to them when I do meet them:

1) When are you lot going to let up on the "coping classes", the people working who are paying every tax under the sun but who are still struggling.

2) Why do we have such a sense of entitlement in our welfare society? I completely understand that there are plenty who find themselves on welfare through no fault of their own but there are those who choose it as a way of life and quite frankly I'm sick of paying for them.

3) Tell me, why is it that in a city such as Limerick that some people are beyond the law? Please tell me how gardai who arrived onto a scene where a horse who was abused by our good scumbags was dying and the vet who came along couldn't put the horse to sleep because the said scumbags were threatening to blow the vets heads off if he ended the horse's suffering? Tell me, how did this happen? I understand that the guards at the end of the day are like you and I and they go home to families but we cannot have a society where this happens. This is my biggest local problem. I don't want to live in a society where this happens, for someone about to please god start a family, I would seriously consider emigrating.

thirdtime

Who are the favourites to get elected??

thirdtime

Wil the AAA GET any seats in Limerick??

ShatterProof

Spoke to AAA guy yesterday. He didn't have a clue. I kept asking if he got elected what would he do for the area. His answer each time was "not pay water charges". He has no idea of what councillors would/should be doing. Felt a bit embarrassed for the guy.

thirdtime

ShatterProof wrote: »

Spoke to AAA guy yesterday. He didn't have a clue. I kept asking if he got elected what would he do for the area. His answer each time was "not pay water charges". He has no idea of what councillors would/should be doing. Felt a bit embarrassed for the guy.

Who was the candidate??

um7y1h83ge06nx

ShatterProof wrote: »

Spoke to AAA guy yesterday. He didn't have a clue. I kept asking if he got elected what would he do for the area. His answer each time was "not pay water charges". He has no idea of what councillors would/should be doing. Felt a bit embarrassed for the guy.

I don't like the idea of water charges but I'm a bit concerned that this attitude and experience might be common among a lot of the "protest" candidates. Focusing on a single issue or a small subset of issues is never a good idea.

the_blackstuff

Had a very funny leaflet drop the other day. Met one of the african guys dropping a number of flyers through the letter box at one time. He handed me one from Leo Walsh FG with sorry I missed you written on it wrapped up in another from some FF candidate. The guy that handed the flyers to me didn't look much like the guy I see on the posters

celticcrash

A Labour candidate knocked on my door. When i answered it, he ran a past me laughing hysterically and proceeded to turn on all my taps including my shower. I called for help out my front door and a FG candidate said he would help. the FG man ran in with a hose, connected it to a tap which ran out to a large plastic drum in his van. He was also laughing hysterically.

Kess73

Would I be right in saying that canvassing by driving around in a car/van with a speaker system is not allowed on the day of the election?

Just had a vehicle pass me near the Crescent Shopping centre blasting out a message to vote number one for a candidate. Was also a guy with a megaphone near Bedford Row earlier today trying to promote a different candidate.

Wise Old Elf

Kess73 wrote: »

Would I be right in saying that canvassing by driving around in a car/van with a speaker system is not allowed on the day of the election?

Just had a vehicle pass me near the Crescent Shopping centre blasting out a message to vote number one for a candidate. Was also a guy with a megaphone near Bedford Row earlier today trying to promote a different candidate.

I believe that they can canvas as long as it's not within a certain distance of a polling booth. Had the AAA guys shouting at me at Bedford Row earlier as well!

Kess73

Disco Stuart wrote: »

I believe that they can canvas as long as it's not within a certain distance of a polling booth. Had the AAA guys shouting at me at Bedford Row earlier as well!

Ahh that might explain it then, although the car with the speaker that was promoting a SF candidate did come within a few hundred yards of a school where voting was taking place.


And yep the city centre ones I saw/heard were AAA.

Wise Old Elf

Kess73 wrote: »

Ahh that might explain it then, although the car with the speaker that was promoting a SF candidate did come within a few hundred yards of a school where voting was taking place.


And yep the city centre ones I saw/heard were AAA.

No idea what the distance is supposed to be though, sorry.
Early tallies are showing Sinn Fein have done quite well in City North, City East, and in Cappamore; with a few sitting Councillors in a spot of bother (as per RTE and the Leader).

Kess73

Disco Stuart wrote: »

No idea what the distance is supposed to be though, sorry.
Early tallies are showing Sinn Fein have done quite well in City North, City East, and in Cappamore; with a few sitting Councillors in a spot of bother (as per RTE and the Leader).

Yeah just heard that on the radio. One of their guys being interviewed ( possibly Maurice Quinlivan going by the voice) thinks they may get five seats overall.

vapesireland

Support the AAA

Wise Old Elf

vapesireland wrote: »

Support the AAA

Bit late for canvassing!
Cian Prendeville looking good for AAA in City North though. Other candidates, not so sure.

Insect Overlord

Can anyone give me an update on the results of the counts today? I 'm out of the country and can't keep up with them on my mobile.

iguana

Can you look at this page on your phone?
http://www.rte.ie/news/election2014/#/local/A17

Insect Overlord

iguana wrote: »

Can you look at this page on your phone?
http://www.rte.ie/news/election2014/#/local/A17

That's brilliant, thanks!

Wise Old Elf

An File wrote: »

That's brilliant, thanks!

A small caveat for the RTE site, they've some errors marking some as current cllrs who aren't and vice versa.
If you're on twitter, #LimerickCount covers it, @Limerickcouncil and the usual news agencies are on it, but there's someone (deirdre flynn I think) tweeting count by count pics, best of them all.
a few sitting have lost seats, jim long, tom shortt, both mc loughlins, john egan in the county, denis mccarthy amongst others.

iguana

Recount in City East called by FG's Leo Walsh who was being eliminated ahead of Sarah Jane Hennelly. I'd say if the result holds she has a good chance of being elected ahead of Jerry O'Dea. Surprising because as a young unknown I didn't think she had any chance at all.

Wise Old Elf

iguana wrote: »

Recount in City East called by FG's Leo Walsh who was being eliminated ahead of Sarah Jane Hennelly. I'd say if the result holds she has a good chance of being elected ahead of Jerry O'Dea. Surprising because as a young unknown I didn't think she had any chance at all.

He's 8 behind her and would be next to be eliminated. Interesting as I don't think the party would call a recount if they didn't think there was a chance of some mistakes having been made. Likely to go in to tomorrow I guess as well as Adare/Rathkeale hasn't even started yet