Dublin Bay South by-election

[dublinbay]

Anyone interested in a discussion of the results ?

I'm torn on it. I like Ivana Bacik but Labour don't seem to have much purpose at the moment. Mind you, I saw a video of Dolores Cargill outside the count centre having a go at some guards. Looper.

I see Barry Cowan wants an urgent meeting for a leadership challenge to discuss what went wrong for Fianna Fáil.
Perhaps they'll wake up to the fact that siding with big foreign companies buying up housing estates and apartment blocks while the voting public can't buy their own home will never be a vote winner.
Civil war politics is dead.
What's needed is a government by the people for the people.
The FIanna Fail housing minister annoys me.
I just think of the Galway tent.

I contacted FG headquarters when Kate O' Connell was not selected and said they'd lose the by-election.
I was right.
I don't think Leo listens.

I wasn't a fan of KO'C but felt she only lost her seat in that constituency to Jim o' Callaghan by a small margin in the General Election 2020.
She'd appeal to those who voted for Ivana Bacik.

I wasn’t a fan of Kate either however it was hard to get away from the idea that elements of the party thought she was ‘difficult’ and plumped for Geoghegan as someone who was ‘more their type’. I think they thought it was a safe seat and they didn’t see Bacik coming.

I have nothing against Geoghegan really but in comparison with Ivana he looked completely out of his depth. While I don’t agree with everything she has said or done, at least she has convictions, whereas it was hard to see what he stood for or why he entered politics, apart from maybe liking the idea that one day he could be Taoiseach.

I don’t agree with the idea that this is a resurgence of Labour though - I live in Dublin Bay South and this was very firmly a vote for the person, not the party. I do think there is a place for what I would call ‘old labour’ though - a party for people who believe in social justice but not quite as left as PBP and Sinn Fein (which has a whole other lot of baggage which would make many people not want to vote for them, irrespective of policies).

Wise words Blogdog

It was totally a personality vote for Ivana.
What has been referred to as a watermelon vote, can be red or green. Went from Ruairi Quinn to Eamonn Ryan to Ivana.
Nice safe middle class but can feel a bit alternative.

@Blogdog Why did elements of FG in Dublin Bay South consider KO'C difficult ?
I know she she was on the Simon Coveney side as opposed to Leo Varadker in the leadership election. She obviously wasn't the only FG TD to favour SC ?
Leo had the support of the TDs and Senators ( which mattered more in the leadership election ) but Simon C had the support of more FG members countrywide.

Someone should tell FF that their policy of not putting the Irish people first ( the voters ) ahead of cuckoo funds is disastrous if they want to be elected.

@dublinbay I have no insight into the workings of local FG but I can only surmise based on my own impressions of Kate during the last two elections and her time as a TD.

Her animosity towards her supposed running mate Eoghan Murphy was clear back in the 2016 election, never mind the 2020 one. She was openly critical of him on the doorsteps which I was really taken aback by. Whatever her reasons for it it was a really bad look for someone who was supposed to be on the same team. Notably he never criticised her when canvassing (and I am no fan of his either) so she just came across as lacking good judgement. I’d go as far as saying that she exhibited the same behaviour once elected, openly complaining about the Taoiseach on several occasions even before the FG leadership contest. Some of her points were valid but the overwhelming impression was of infighting within the party, which is a complete turn-off. Look at the squabbling within FF at the moment - these people are supposed to be running the country and they’re acting like children. If Kate was so openly negative about her party in public, lord knows what she was saying in private, hence I can see why she didn’t get the support of her local party members. Why would you vote for someone who comes across as not being a team player?

Contrast this with Bacik, who despite being treated badly by labour from time to time, still stuck with them and acted with grace and maturity. It would have been a different election if Kate had run instead of Geoghegan, but I still think Bacik would have won.

Thank you for your reply @Blogdog.
It's insightful.
A friend of mine has family involved in politics.
He always said your biggest rival in politics is your party running mate not the opposition's candidate