Election poll: how are you voting in the General Election?

Lockstep

It'll be interesting to see how the forum is leaning.


I'm voting for Nolan (Labour) in Galway West/South Mayo, with a #2 for O Tuathail (SocDems), #3 for Sheridan (Green) and #4 for Kyne (FG)

the groutch

should the poll maybe include the Independent Alliance as a seperate option rather than just included with Ind/Others?

they are definitely distinguishable from the single issue or parish pump independents.

VisibleGorilla

Sinn Féin.

Scofflaw

Greens (Ryan) #1 in Dublin Bay South. Lower preferences TBD.

cordially,
Scofflaw

Scofflaw

Greens (Ryan) #1 in Dublin Bay South. Lower preferences TBD.

cordially,
Scofflaw

BoJack Horseman

Tactically, probably Labour.

Berserker

SF, FF, FG, Labour, AAA and PBP won't be getting any votes from me. The Green Party and Renua candidates in my area have impressed me, so I will probably give them the higher preference votes.

flazio

Since my constituency has moved from Galway East to Roscommon the choices I have are diminished. Former Fine Gael now independent Denis Naughten is probably going to run away with it and to be honesthe seems to be the only one bothered to do anything, I know they say every vote counts but I feel as if this constituency is going to be the dullest one in the country.

realitykeeper

The Greens and Renua. Not sure which of these will get my first preference to though.

323

Had thought First Renua, second Independent.

But see the date has been announced this morning, going to be out of the country.

So wont be voting, again.

martingriff

Not sure how I will vote yet not living in the area at present where I vote but will gauge parties from what I hear where I am. However I will not vote for a party/independent who is just standing as an anti this or that and no other policies

Ozymandius2011

Can I suggest we move this poll to After Hours as the turnouts on polls there tend to be much higher in my experience?

I'm voting for Mick Wallace. I don't feel backbenchers have any influence over policy. I also welcome his role in highlighting the Garda penalty points and NAMA controversies. I also share his opposition to the criminalisation of sex purchasers from adults.

I don't think the economy is improving as much as we're being told. 90,000 out of the new jobs are job activition schemes according to Peader Toibin on The Week in Politics. In Wexford my constituency there is no real sign of recovery yet. Some of the Jobbridge internships only pay €50 on top of social welfare.

Superhorse

SF

hmmm

FG & Labour, much as I dislike the latter. I like the way things are going, and I don't want to rock the boat. I'll be giving nothing to independents, the idea that we'll have 40 of these single issue candidates blocking up the Dail is worrying.

Grudaire

Greens #1 all the way - it's clear no other party really cares about the environment, planning or sustainability.

Very unsure about further preferences tbh

BoJack Horseman

Grudaire wrote: »

it's clear no other party really cares about the environment, planning or sustainability

Do the Greens?

They had a stint in power, the sum total of their imagination was to levy more taxation on people.

I'd consider myself an environmentalist..... and tbh, because I am I will not be voting 'Green'.
Their brand of environmentalism feels more middle-class SJW-ing, to the benefit of no one especially not mother earth.

gandalf

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

Do the Greens?

They had a stint in power, the sum total of their imagination was to levy more taxation on people.

I'd consider myself an environmentalist..... and tbh, because I am I will not be voting 'Green'.
Their brand of environmentalism feels more middle-class SJW-ing, to the benefit of no one especially not mother earth.

TBH in my constituency I'll be giving the Green a high preference because he does line up with a lot of what my opinions are and one local issue in particular means I cannot vote for any of the local FG candidates. If the Social Democrats were running here they would have been guaranteed my 1st preference, unfortunately they aren't.

Won't be touching FF, SF, AAA so they are out. Labour would have got a preference but their candidates are absolutely uninspiring.

Scofflaw

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

Do the Greens?

They had a stint in power, the sum total of their imagination was to levy more taxation on people.

Sure, people don't remember the charities legislation, or planning legislation - they only remember a tax hike which was pretty much the same as any other levy increase. The civil partnership legislation is seen as a triumph of this current government, despite having been a major point in the Green coalition negotiations, and started under them.

I'd consider myself an environmentalist..... and tbh, because I am I will not be voting 'Green'.
Their brand of environmentalism feels more middle-class SJW-ing, to the benefit of no one especially not mother earth.

The opposition to nuclear power is a strong negative in my book. They're not very scientifically literate in general, and at least a third of Green Party support at any moment is made up of tinfoil hat wearers whose main aim seems to be to ban flouride and vaccination.

On the other hand, the other parties simply do not give a toss. At all. As far as green issues register on their radar they're either annoying EU regulations to be bent, or money-making greenwash opportunities.

I'll go with politicians who at least start off by caring about the things I care most about.

cordially,
Scofflaw

BoJack Horseman

Scofflaw wrote: »

they only remember a tax hike which was pretty much the same as any other levy increase

And why is that so wrong?

It rubbed a lot of the public up the wrong way, it was and is so insidious in how it was executed & the spuriousness of its reasoning.

It costs me about €150-€170 per year... and for what?

The logic was preposterous.
Tax the plebs arbitrarily for the consumption of carbon, as if we really have a choice.
There was no end game here, no improvement in the quality of our lives, no improvement in the infrastructure of the state it was just a punishment so some elites could feel good about themselves.

They taxed our electricity bill because the government burn peat & coal to make electricity (their choice!).. they chose to have carbon-heavy power generation & then tax the proles for their decision to do this!

And 6 years on, what was the result?

The government's power generation apparatus is still carbon intensive.
There are still twice as many cows as people in the country (and I won't go into their ignoring of the myriad of other more harmful emissions that the Greens pretend concern didn't stretch to.)
Traffic levels are back to peak because the governments alternative is still expensive & inferior.

Christ, thinking about their faux-concern for the world is infuriating.

I'll go with politicians who at least start off by caring about the things I care most about.

If its a choice between FG's very overt lack of poop-giving on the environment Vs the Green's innefective, while costly pretense at caring, I will indeed take the former. At least it is honest in its uncaring & doesn't penalise me arbitrarily for existing.

Environmentally, the result is the same for both .... absolutely nothing.

Godge

Scofflaw wrote: »

Sure, people don't remember the charities legislation, or planning legislation - they only remember a tax hike which was pretty much the same as any other levy increase. The civil partnership legislation is seen as a triumph of this current government, despite having been a major point in the Green coalition negotiations, and started under them.



The opposition to nuclear power is a strong negative in my book. They're not very scientifically literate in general, and at least a third of Green Party support at any moment is made up of tinfoil hat wearers whose main aim seems to be to ban flouride and vaccination.

On the other hand, the other parties simply do not give a toss. At all. As far as green issues register on their radar they're either annoying EU regulations to be bent, or money-making greenwash opportunities.

I'll go with politicians who at least start off by caring about the things I care most about.

cordially,
Scofflaw

The Patricia McKenna wing is greatly diminished.

They learned a lot from their mistakes in government, particularly Eamon Ryan.

Scofflaw

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

And why is that so wrong?

It rubbed a lot of the public up the wrong way, it was and is so insidious in how it was executed & the spuriousness of its reasoning.

It costs me about €150-€170 per year... and for what?

The logic was preposterous.
Tax the plebs arbitrarily for the consumption of carbon, as if we really have a choice.
There was no end game here, no improvement in the quality of our lives, no improvement in the infrastructure of the state it was just a punishment so some elites could feel good about themselves.

They taxed our electricity bill because the government burn peat & coal to make electricity (their choice!).. they chose to have carbon-heavy power generation & then tax the proles for their decision to do this!

And 6 years on, what was the result?

The government's power generation apparatus is still carbon intensive.
There are still twice as many cows as people in the country (and I won't go into their ignoring of the myriad of other more harmful emissions that the Greens pretend concern didn't stretch to.)
Traffic levels are back to peak because the governments alternative is still expensive & inferior.

Christ, thinking about their faux-concern for the world is infuriating.


If its a choice between FG's very overt lack of poop-giving on the environment Vs the Green's innefective, while costly pretense at caring, I will indeed take the former. At least it is honest in its uncaring & doesn't penalise me arbitrarily for existing.

Given the overall accuracy of your complaints, that seems like reasoning that might be expected.

cordially,
Scofflaw

Scofflaw

Godge wrote: »

The Patricia McKenna wing is greatly diminished.

They learned a lot from their mistakes in government, particularly Eamon Ryan.

I hope that's the case. The McKenna wing did a big enough flounce, hopefully they've stayed away.

cordially,
Scofflaw

Lockstep

Ozymandius2011 wrote: »

Can I suggest we move this poll to After Hours as the turnouts on polls there tend to be much higher in my experience?

Nah, it's more to gauge the politics forum than Boards in general: considering how opinionated and informed the posters are here, I'm interested in seeing how they're leaning.

Sleepy

I'll probably give Cian O’Callaghan of the Social Democrats a no. 1 even though I expect him to be drubbed and my vote to eventually pass to Naoise Ó Muirí / Richard Bruton of FG.

I don't agree with all of the Social Democrats platform (particularly around Water Charges) but there's enough there that I do agree with that I'd like to see them grow as a force in Irish politics.

Picking the lesser of the available evils that can conceivably do anything to influence the country is becoming harder as more and more standing do so as Independents IMO. As unlikely as I would be to vote for Renua or Sinn Fein at least they represent groups of politicians with enough of an agreed platform upon which to base a program for government. The various other "alliances" on the far Left can't manage to find more than 2/3 people capable of doing so.

Coillte_Bhoy

Why 2 separate options for AAA and PBP? They are standing under the one banner

Ozymandius2011

Detailed breakdown of this weeks Irish Times poll here. It shows a massive class divide for the first time in an Irish election. It also has FF and Labour level in Dublin at 11%. Among the wealthiest AB group (nationally), voters want the govt re-elected 47-46, while among the poorest DE group, its against 72-19, and the against are ahead in all these other social class groups with at least 62% against.

For Forks Sake

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

Why 2 separate options for AAA and PBP? They are standing under the one banner

Leaves room for splitters.

Lockstep

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

Why 2 separate options for AAA and PBP? They are standing under the one banner

Considering how often they split from each other (ULA anyone?), it's unclear if their pact will last until the election.

K-9

Leaning towards the Greens. Not engaging in auction politics over the USC is a big plus for me.

The rest are mostly meh, though there's a good Independent candidate in Dessie Shiels here, good consistent record in highlighting poor standards in the Council here.

seamus

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

They had a stint in power, the sum total of their imagination was to levy more taxation on people.

...for the purposes of achieving their goals, as opposed to "for the hell of it".

From what I can tell, the Greens are one of the most, if not the most successful junior coalition party in living memory, in terms of using their position to get their own policies implemented.

A lot of the things they worked towards, such as the bike to work scheme and civil partnerships, were regarded by FF as trivial dalliances that the Greens could occupy themselves with, without upsetting the FF vote.
Yet a lot of what they did in their time has been a roaring success and had a massive positive changing influence on society.

Their failure was in naivety. A lot of people claim they failed to pull the plug sooner because they didn't want to let go of power, but I genuinely think they believed Cowen when he told them that he could pull things together;

"For a very long time we in the Green Party have stood back in the hope that Fianna Fáil could resolve persistent doubts about their party leadership. A definitive resolution of this has not yet been possible. And our patience has reached an end."

And they got savaged for that mistake.

Martypants1

Fine Gael I think. They're not doing a bad job.

bladespin

Very disheartened in the whole lot tbh, Indy is the only real option for me (notice DDI isn't up there).
Can't stand anymore of the FG bully tactics, Kenny is one of the most 2 faced liars I've ever seen but FF are a shower of grubby eegits, Labs sold their souls like the Green meanies who loved to tax the poor, SF - well, Renua comic etc etc. We don't have an SD candidate as yet but considering that I doubt they would have much look in our area.

BoJack Horseman

seamus wrote: »

...for the purposes of achieving their goals, as opposed to "for the hell of it".

What was the goal?
And was it achieved?

An Ciarraioch

Not the most inspiring of fields in Kerry - Arthur Spring (Lab) is basically living off his uncle's reputation, Deenihan (FG) is probably in his last term, and even though I've no intention of voting FF, both of their candidates are rather weak. Looks like I'll be voting Independent for the most part at this stage, though Griffin is one of the better young FG TDs, so may get a lower preference.

Padster90s

Social Democrats, have been waiting a long time for a party like the SDs to come along.

Rosahane

Fianna Fáil: a shower of crooks who have repeatedly screw up the country and whose members consist of people who are in politics solely for their own gain.

Labour: now mainly champagne socialists mixed with a continually decreasing number of committed trade union working class types.

Sinn Fein: a combination of Stalinist like aspirational dictators, ambitious carpetbaggers who are not prepared to work their way up through the other party organisations and lots of rabid republican underclass cannon fodder.

Fine Gael: relics of auld decency with a lot of members who are genuinely interested in making the country a better place interspersed with an ever increasing number of FF like "main chance" office holders.

AAA/PBP/SD/Renua/etc. Composed of people whe couldn't cut it in any of the above.

So, as an ex FG member ( I left many years ago in disgust at the emerging trend within the party of aping FF - both in policies and corruption) and from a proud Blueshirt background I still see no alternative to them as the best of a bad lot! At least some of their elected representatives have integrity and honesty!

bladespin

That's a pretty rose tinted vision of FG, from all I've seen they're exactly the same as FF. Corrupt, cronyist and lap dogs.
Bang on for the others though.

Rosahane

bladespin wrote: »

That's a pretty rose tinted vision of FG, from all I've seen they're exactly the same as FF. Corrupt, cronyist and lap dogs.
Bang on for the others though.

Unfortunately they are heading that way, particularly with the cronyism. Less so on the corruption, unlike FF they tend to get rid of the offenders.

However when you get down to it they are the least worst option to lead a government.

...and, until we get a decent social democratic alternative that's where we are. I was interested in Renua, well, for about the five minutes it took to discover that Hobbs was involved!

Cheerful Spring

Vote for FG is a vote for more taxes. If you not wealthy why do you vote for FG?

FG have taken from working people and given nothing back in return.

BoJack Horseman

Cheerful Spring wrote: »

Vote for FG is a vote for more taxes

Do you have anything to back that?

I've only bothered yet to read the executive summary of their election document, but they seem committed to reducing income taxation further, on top of the reductions put in place on each of the last two budgets.

Whereas other parties election materiel explicitly states there will be tax rises.

bladespin

BoJack Horseman wrote:

Do you have anything to back that?

History

gavmcg92

Dublin Bay South. Will probably give Eoghan Murphy (FG) my first vote and Kevin Humphreys (Lab) my second. Not mad about Kate O'Connell (FG) to be honest so she'll be lower down the list, above Lucinda, SF, PBP and AAA.

BoJack Horseman

bladespin wrote: »

History

indeed... As I said, 2 x income tax drops in two years.

Some of the opposition are committed to reversing that.

The electorate has their choice.

bladespin

BoJack Horseman wrote:

indeed... As I said, 2 x income tax drops in two years.

Water tax, property tax, USC remains intact, taxation has increased massively under their watch.

nice_guy80

flazio wrote: »

Since my constituency has moved from Galway East to Roscommon the choices I have are diminished. Former Fine Gael now independent Denis Naughten is probably going to run away with it and to be honesthe seems to be the only one bothered to do anything, I know they say every vote counts but I feel as if this constituency is going to be the dullest one in the country.

funny, the Roscommon constituency is always an interesting one

great for producing shocks

BoJack Horseman

bladespin wrote: »

taxation has increased massively under their watch.

Indeed & rightly so....

They inherited an €11bn primary deficit in 2011, which is now in surplus.

So, if you are not fond of paying more taxes, why would you consider the parties promising just that?

bladespin

BoJack Horseman wrote:

Indeed & rightly so....

Not against taxes (fairly applied etc etc) just please do not pretend they are about anything but high rax on the middle, their record speaks for itself.

BoJack Horseman

bladespin wrote: »

Not against taxes (fairly applied etc etc) just please do not pretend they are about anything but high rax on the middle, their record speaks for itself.

And as I said, 2 successive years of income tax reductions and they promise more to come.

Do you prefer this over the oppositions commitment to higher taxes on income?

bladespin

As I said I don't really care either way, I simply answered your question, and pointed out your error on taxation being lowered.
Lowering income tax while placing hefty levies kn home and utlities it just camoflage.

BoJack Horseman

bladespin wrote: »

As I said I don't really care either way

Most workers do though & it will be a major part of their decision making.

And, if you take a family on the average household income in a house at the national average, the last 2 years has indeed seen a net decrease in taxation including LTP & IW... (not by much, but it has reduced)

It's really where those who have quite expensive properties is where LPT is greater than USC reductions to date.

bladespin

BoJack Horseman wrote:

Most workers do though & it will be a major part of their decision making.

Probably explains the popularity of SF and the others but I don't expect much to change on that front tbh. FF may cut taxes in power but I don't think they'll make the numbers, most likely is FG and high taxes remain.