Can we have a thread to discuss the upcoming MEP Election candidates for Ireland?

[HornyHornersPinkyWinky]

European elections coming up on 7th June. Ireland has 14 seats to fill...

I know it's probably early days, but I got a shiny leaflet in the door from Barry Andrews talking about how great he is - sorry Barry but you're not getting my vote.

It got me thinking though, I have no idea who to vote for. Here's a website which lists all the candidates, if you scroll down you will see the constituencies and if you click on their faces it gives you more information about their policies etc.
https://www.europeanmovement.ie/european-elections-2024/#1708343079798-db46201b-445f

Is there anyone dead set on who they are voting for and willing to share? I'm in Dublin BTW. Actually, if I could I'd vote for Peadar Tobín, but he's in the Midlands constituency...

My own opinion on the local elections is that people tend to vote for the person more so than the party.

That's nearly entirely what it is. There are lots of really good, dedicated councillors around who do a genuinely good job on the ground and most of them are in the bigger parties. And lots of people vote for John Smith or Jane Jones in spite of the party rather than for the party.

I've seen tally reports of SF councillors getting 1st preference with no transfers to the other SF candidates on the ballot. Which, if true, definitely proves that the vote is for the person not the party.

I feel SF have done a lot more for damage with the referendum.

They do not seem to be an opposition party.

Although if you look at 2019, the SF councillors did not do well as expected in LE. Hence they put out less TDs and did very well.

I am thinking potentially it is the actual TDs which need to watch next year

Yes @DublinFemale you are right that their support for the doomed Referendum probably hurt them. That and anti immigrant candidates eating into their vote in some areas. Having said that , there doesn't seem to be a 'far right surge ' like the media were predicting / salivating over.

But this might be a result of the sheer number of far right Independent candidates? They are many and varied in character. Not all are racist as such. For I had one guy who asks us to 🙏 pray. Seriously. So that we might be saved from the World Economic Forum , the WHO and the UN.

We live in strange times. Brexit , Trump, Covid, Ukraine war. But even this will pass away as the poet said. Did a women's rights candidate stand anywhere? Limerick would be a good place to start perhaps.

Did a women's rights candidate stand anywhere? Limerick would be a good place to start perhaps.

Aontu have stated that repealing the gender recognition act is one of their main party policies. Most of the "far right*" leaflets that I got through the door had a paragraph on their opposition to trans ideology being taught in schools, transing of children and males in women's prisons.

*Not one of those parties were even remotely close to far right, they all stood on platforms that were typical of FF & FG 15 years ago.

I wonder do polls overestimate Sinn Feins support by people who will actually vote and also given how utterly wrong the polls were in the referendum, is there something about the polls in Ireland that are just getting it wrong.

I think the maths for SF was always going to be tricky like running more than one candidate in a locality is a good idea in theory but in acutality it can mean neither of them getting elected when a single candidate would have as there wouldn't have been vote splitting.

I also think that @Gettalife said people voting for Councillors will more likely go for a person over a party and there are advantages that sitting Councillors have.

The European votes will be interesting, I heard that based on the first preferences it looks like SF's Lynn Boylan will get a seat, I thought she was atrocious in the debates

What annoys me as well is how well Labour seem to be doing, I have such a dislike of Bacik and her hypocrisy. It was racism when small localities were concerned about having massive amounts of Ukranians and other refugees in their area due to lack of resources such as school or GP places but as soon as the tents were in her area she changed her tune

Round here most votes have gone to former councillors with a proven track record of doing their best in the local area. As that worked out, it meant L, FG and FF and an Independent from a long-established grouping.

I'm interested in the way it is giving the lie to the rather patronising narrative after the referendum that we didn't care about the issues, we were just protesting against the parties in government. The people who turn out to vote take a more sophisticated interest in matters than some of the commentators admit.

And the polls are a joke.

It's also very geographical, with each centre of population having someone 'from' there.

Three post looper, Sinn Fein have been completely inept. I'm amused that one of the Independents near here who did well used to be SF, a nice person in a public-facing job who got votes on the basis of his own qualities about 15 years ago when many people were prepared to vote SF for the first time. He later quit the party because of bullying (not the only one to be driven to that).

Hazel Chu GP was the same.

Not sure what is implied here. Bacik is a hypocrite because she thinks people shouldn't have to live in tents. Or because she is OK with ppl in tents? You can tell I don't follow Dublin news much!

Backik and Hazel Chu are NIMBY types.

It's wrong to have people living on the streets or beside a canal in little flimsy tents with zero facilities anywhere, and if there's somewhere safer, warmer and more sanitary for them to go (including somewhere else in Dublin, as is already the case, there are several accommodation centres in and around Dublin) isn't it best for them to be moved there?

I doubt very much if Bacik and Chu want people to be living in flimsy little tents with no facilities anywhere in the country, and if it happens to be in their constituencies, surely that gives them a direct responsibility to do something about it? Why is it hypocritical?
They'd be criticised if they didn't - 'Look there are people living in tents beside the canal in their constituency, and they're doing nothing about it!'

Look how quick the tents were moved from Ballsbridge compared to the Grand Canal. Chu was complaining about how long people like her and in her area would be waiting for gp appointments but wasn't bothered by that when refugees were sent elsewhere.

https://x.com/Jklunden/status/1786462654459965465?t=jYv5E-d-xVWvXaXa20LLZQ&s=08

But Bacik and Chu's arguments weren't people shouldn't be living in tents (which I think we all agree they shouldn't), their arguments were about GP and school places. The GP places is reasonable because yes more people in an area does cause strain on public services such as GP's but they had given out about people doing similar in small towns. The school places one was an absolute stretch given it was adult male migrants in the tents.

Its all lets budge up and make room except for if its in my constituency, its already full there.

To be fair to Bacik and Chu, experienced local representatives are shaped by experience to know that everything that happens in their area, including health and education provision is linked quite tightly to what has been agreed in the five year local development plan. Everyone works their socks off to get the plan 'right', with every special interest group working to make sure they get a fair hearing.

The budget is tightly linked to the plan, central government input follows it, and planning decisions are controlled by it. It is limiting in some ways, but usually means that stuff works and people understand it, and if they see snags in a current plan, can lobby either for variances or for changes in direction in the next plan.

Sudden increases of population by dozens or hundreds or thousands of new people aren't in the five-year plan, which partly explains the dismay of communities that have been working within the limitations. Everyone knows people disrupted by war and climate distress need refuge. We need a framework for providing that - and that is going to take some flexibility from the central budget and bureaucrats, all of whom are trying to play catch-up, some better than others.

This has been a depressing election all round.

FF/FG are taking it as carry on as we were.

I can only hope that this voting for people rather than parties, this seems to be the case in my area, where no party got more than one seat in fact the majority are all independents.

Next year is the big one that is actual TD's.

"This has bee a depressing election all round.

FF/FG are taking it as carry on as we were........"

I agree with your views above @DublinFemale

I thought the government would get a fright.

I didn't know Barry Andrews was representing me in Europe. He made such an impression.
And it looks like Regina Doherty will be representing me too soon. 🙄

Was Regina secret pledger Doherty not already in EU?

There is a real battle for 4th seat.

I'm wondering if some people voted for the traditional parties in an attempt to steer clear of some of the more right wing candidates campaigning on anti-immigrant platform.
I would like to have seen the government get a bit of a fright though.

The whole far right is a red herring for a lot of the people being accused.

Requesting that we hold off bringing more people in when all we can give them is a tent to live in is not racist. It should be common sense that a tent is not the cure

miri1985 But Bacik and Chu's arguments weren't people shouldn't be living in tents (which I think we all agree they shouldn't), their arguments were about GP and school places.

I've had a good look online for statements by either IB or HC in which they refer to the tents in terms of GP or school places - can't find any, did I miss something? have you any examples?

All the statements by both of them expressed their concerns for welfare/ safety/sanitation etc. Both said the occupants should be housed elsewhere. Both of them pointed out that there are possible sites 'within a stone's throw', Bacik repeated local demands for the old Baggot Street Hospital to be used as accommodation.

So neither of them was suggesting the occupants of the tents be sent anywhere outside of Dublin.

It's strange because the media coverage of the local elections has been massive - like this was the general election or something.
I wasn't even that bothered about the local councillors tbh, I picked one candidates because I knew her but I couldn't tell you who most of them were. I was more focused on our MEPs.

Do the local councils really have that much power?

You're right it is depressing because many people are unhappy with the current government, but now they seem to have been given a big boost of confidence and will carry on as normal. Maybe it's like a previous poster said, that people voted for the person rather than the party. But that's not how the government/ media seem to be taking it.

Unfortunately , it takes a long time to get change. It was easier in the referendum as it was a binary choice and the message was simple.

I am very engaged in politics, but as John McGuirk has written, most people are not interested in politics and don’t pay attention. Therefore, it is difficult to cut through - there were 27 people on my EU list. There were loads of councilors and I would love to vote for someone radical but there was no one radical in my constituency- not one!!!

It will take 2-3 election cycles for changes to come through. Look at France - Marine Le Pen has been at this for decades.

I know we all hoped change was coming, but change in Ireland is usually a very slow process, then a damn bursts and we need to be ready for that moment.

There were too many independent candidates and no transfers between them - Independents got the largest share of the vote, but the government can ignore it because it was disparate and in a country where transfers are king, it didn’t work. But we will learn, regroup, and be better prepared for the next one.