If there were am Irish General Election today who would you give your first preference vote to?

Give it time. The Shinner bots need to be primed first.

The vote should be as accurate as previous Boards election polls - completely unrepresentative of the country.

In other words you don't vote, so don't vote.

If you don't think there's anyone you want to vote for; run yourself. Its free these days - once you get 30 nominees.

It often turns out there's very few people that are actually disillusioned by all the choices and yet find that their opinions have much support.

They've arrived now

Genuine question. What background would a candidate have to have?

I think I've voted twice in my life. No party represents me or my needs: single male. I also don't think it matters who's in power, because the people will suffer anyway, until another Bertie comes along and gives everyone everything at the expense of the future. I'll start voting once politicians prove they deserve my vote, and so far none of them have made me think I'd want them in there. None. Especially the Mouth McDonald who seems to think she'll be able to wish up money out her hole.

King Charles III gets my vote.

Especially the Mouth McDonald who seems to think she'll be able to wish up money out her hole.

That does seem to be where she keeps it… 😳

/runs away

Mick Wallace/Clare Dalys allegedly far left, but actually fascist-licking party.

Alright, settle down petal. I didn't sh!t in your cornflakes, no need for the name calling.

I was a Garda for 10 years and couldn't do anything except be a painter or potentially own a second house for private rental (no sure how other Gardai managed this, I couldn't keep paying the 1, and contrary to popular belief, most Gardai don't own multiple houses). Makes sense, can't have a conflict of interest while being a Garda for obvious reasons. I hold the same to politicians, who are paid far more for far less actual work. Not everyone in this country can be a landlord or have a financial investment in same. Only the rich. Like politicians. So how can I trust someone to make decisions that benefit the people and not their pockets, which if I'm not mistaken is exactly what is currently happening?

A politician should have no conflicting interests. They should represent the people and have their interests in mind. It's the stupid people giving these dopes z-list status instead of condemning them. We'll all be happy with the 80c increase to min wage while they give themselves a 6-24k increase.

You post is the typical example of someone who can't believe other people have a different point of view or opinion, and you seem to have the need to let everyone else know how stupid they are. You seem like a lovely person, like most on here...

SF will be in government next election, property is the simple reason.

You know in a dictatorship like North Korea you are told exactly what to think and who to vote for and everybody agrees or else they are shot.

You seem to want some sort of a reverse dictatorship where you want a party that exactly matches all of your needs and does what you want without actually getting involved in the electoral process.

I'm not sure it will catch on tbh...

Do you really believe that politicians do less work than Gardai ?

I'm guessing a typical Garda works 40 hours a week with various shift patterns and the intensity or otherwise of that work depends on where they are stationed, their speciality, their rank etc.

TDs are expected to be at the beck and call of the public 24*7*365.

Have a look at your local TDs "clinic" schedule and you'll soon see that they are out almost every night of the week in various locations doing what is a expected of them.

And if they are not then they are not getting reelected.

Nobody stuck in traffic on the M50 decides to become a TD because the pay is good and the work is easy.

If it was easy loads more would be trying it.

The pay might be good but my God they earn it.

They'll make an even bigger cock of it thsn the previous shower or continue along similar lines imo.

My original question stands!!

Anyone but Sinn Fein

Exactly, unless you are a die hard supporter of a particular party why would you vote for someone that you thought was no good if another party had an excellent candidate ?

My point was that if you don't know who will be on the ballot you can't make a value judgement.

You are talking about politicians you know so you can say you won't vote for them.

Would you vote for a dud representing a particular party rather than an excellent independent candidate?

Yes. The salary really isn't that high. For the Senate it's actually crap.

And if you can pick specific members of the current Dail that are clearly incapable of earning such otherwise (and yes, there are a fair few - I could name a few that I don't think would be coherently capable of signing on even) - do you want to limit the potential future Dail candidates to just those? Because paying a lower salary will do just that.

Why would you become a TD when you can get paid much more for a much easier job - except to take bribes; which is the main reason that they're paid a reasonable amount.

It was specifically coupled to stop the Dail giving themselves pay increases. It never stopped people accusing them of doing so, though. If it was decoupled do you think it wouldn't suddenly become 250k?

the guff people pedal. show us the info there to say they dont believe in people owning private property. you'll be saying they're marxists next

There are some that would earn as much, if not a lot more, if they had never entered politics.

Then there are some who would earn more if they left politics - on the basis of experience gained and connections made while being a politician. i.e. if they had never been elected, they likely wouldn't be in the running for those positions

Then there are some that are qualified in nothing else, or else qualified in a steady but not wealthy profession who would never make the money they make as a politician.

Ultimately the land of Ireland belongs to the people of Ireland and that is the underlining theme on which our policy is based. Sinn Fein believes that the constitutional balance must be in favour of the common good over and above the rights of private property."

Guess who will be deciding "the common good" ....

I’m very fed up with the erosion of childrens disability services and therapy. It was a vastly superior service even five years ago. But sure they can’t vote so….

my five year old kid has had zero therapy since the pandemic started.

so I’ll be looking at any party that has a realistic plan to address it quickly.