Will you vote for Fianna Fail?

[andoireabu]

From reading a few posts i've gathered that Sinn Féin are not popular in the South. Can anyone tell me why?

[Hardy]

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are two sides of the same coin as far as I'm concerned. The carry-on in the courtyard of Leinster House after the heave against Kenny last summer suggests to me that there'll be no change from the bullsh1t parish-pump politics that has got us into this mess.

There appears to be no viable alternative though. Labour and Gilmore talk a good game but will he have the balls to face down the unions when the cuts have to be made? I doubt it. The Greens have dug their own grave and I will never vote for Sinn Féin.

To answer the original question, I have never voted for FF and I probably never will. I haven't a strong notion who I'll vote for in the next election. At this stage I will probably vote for an Independent candidate. 

That's exactly my position as well, pretty much word for word. While there's no palatable alternative, FF MUST be thrown out. If we don't do it, what kind of a message would that be to the political class, the world and to ourselves and our children?

I'd vote for the IMF candidates down the card at the next election, if that were possible. (With a no. 4 or 5 vote for the Hairy Lesbians, just to make sure FF are kept out).

[IolarCoisCuain]

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are two sides of the same coin as far as I'm concerned. The carry-on in the courtyard of Leinster House after the heave against Kenny last summer suggests to me that there'll be no change from the bullsh1t parish-pump politics that has got us into this mess.

There appears to be no viable alternative though. Labour and Gilmore talk a good game but will he have the balls to face down the unions when the cuts have to be made? I doubt it. The Greens have dug their own grave and I will never vote for Sinn Féin.

To answer the original question, I have never voted for FF and I probably never will. I haven't a strong notion who I'll vote for in the next election. At this stage I will probably vote for an Independent candidate. 

Face down the unions? Labour are the unions. We're buggered.

[Bord na Mona man]

It would be good to see Fianna Fail annihilated in the next election. Even if the some of the people who turn on them are the ones who thought that stroke pulling was great back in the day and are now blaming the government for some of their self inflicted problems. At least it would send out a message to future parties in power to keep their snouts clean.

Now is a good time to try and clean up the political system. Try and remove local interferences from the cabinet table and keep local politicians from interfering with hospital waiting lists, medical cards allocation and local planning. I can't see it being tackled though. For our leaders to do this would be like them reaching down and sawing the bottom of the ladder they are standing on.

[Bord na Mona man]

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are two sides of the same coin as far as I'm concerned. The carry-on in the courtyard of Leinster House after the heave against Kenny last summer suggests to me that there'll be no change from the bullsh1t parish-pump politics that has got us into this mess.

There appears to be no viable alternative though. Labour and Gilmore talk a good game but will he have the balls to face down the unions when the cuts have to be made? I doubt it. The Greens have dug their own grave and I will never vote for Sinn Féin.

To answer the original question, I have never voted for FF and I probably never will. I haven't a strong notion who I'll vote for in the next election. At this stage I will probably vote for an Independent candidate. 

Face down the unions? Labour are the unions. We're buggered.

Which is why the longer an election is put off the better. If Labour got into power too soon, they wouldn't tackle the beards in the unions and the current crisis would be prolonged. Let Fianna Fail take the unpopular but necessary measures and then remove them from office.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are two sides of the same coin as far as I'm concerned. The carry-on in the courtyard of Leinster House after the heave against Kenny last summer suggests to me that there'll be no change from the bullsh1t parish-pump politics that has got us into this mess.

There appears to be no viable alternative though. Labour and Gilmore talk a good game but will he have the balls to face down the unions when the cuts have to be made? I doubt it. The Greens have dug their own grave and I will never vote for Sinn Féin.

To answer the original question, I have never voted for FF and I probably never will. I haven't a strong notion who I'll vote for in the next election. At this stage I will probably vote for an Independent candidate. 

Face down the unions? Labour are the unions. We're buggered.

Thats how I feel Iolar, thats exactly why I don't trust Labour as a stand alone Government or the lead partner in a coalition. If I thought Labour would face down the Unions I might be less worried. My preference is a Fine Gael stand alone government followed by an FG lead FG-Labour coalition. I don't think the Greens deserve to be allowed to join any coalition, I don't think Independents as government backers makes good national government. I actually would rather see 2 or 3 SF'rs in a coalition than the Greens, hope it doesn't come to that tbh. I am a big fan of Enda Kenny, but it must be remembered FG shared power with Clann na Poblachta and again with the Democratic Left. My problem with SF is becoming less their connections to the RA and more to with their unrealistic and off the wall approach to economics and sence of detachment to what matters to the citizens of the Republic.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are two sides of the same coin as far as I'm concerned. The carry-on in the courtyard of Leinster House after the heave against Kenny last summer suggests to me that there'll be no change from the bullsh1t parish-pump politics that has got us into this mess.

There appears to be no viable alternative though. Labour and Gilmore talk a good game but will he have the balls to face down the unions when the cuts have to be made? I doubt it. The Greens have dug their own grave and I will never vote for Sinn Féin.

To answer the original question, I have never voted for FF and I probably never will. I haven't a strong notion who I'll vote for in the next election. At this stage I will probably vote for an Independent candidate. 

Face down the unions? Labour are the unions. We're buggered.

Which is why the longer an election is put off the better. If Labour got into power too soon, they wouldn't tackle the beards in the unions and the current crisis would be prolonged. Let Fianna Fail take the unpopular but necessary measures and then remove them from office.

I think for democracy we need an election now, for a better future for Ireland we need it after FF cuts their own wrists (a better Ireland is one without FF).

[turk]

I am possibly going to vote for a Fianna Fail candidate in the next election. There, I've said it. It pains me to think I might vote for the party who have brought this country to ruin. But here's the thing, a local Fianna Fail TD managed to inform me of an entitlement others told me I wasn't entitled to. It has made a substantial difference to me. And that, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with Irish politics and I'm perpetuating it. This bit of work that my local Fianna Fail TD did for me shouldn't be their job. It ought to be the job of local councillors. But we've a political system where it is more important for TDs to do things at a local level than show leadership and nous in running the country. Of course it can be pointed out that if that's the way I feel, I ought to vote for someone else to change things. But I'm very grateful for the work that has been done. I would feel guilty if I didn't vote for this TD. It is a personal vote not a party one, although I know it amounts to the same thing. I haven't completely decided to go this way but its the way I'm leaning at the minute.

A few other points. I haven't voted FF all my life. I've mixed it between FF and FG. We've never had decent Labour options in Mayo. Although that is not the case next time around. I wouldn't vote for SF. If Ireland had a strong Labour Party - they sounded their own death knell by not contesting the 1921 elections, which is amazing really - then I feel we wouldn't be in the same situation as we are in now. But Labour have been too weak nationally. I hope that is about to change. Would FG have done a better job than FF. Probably but I cannot say that with the utmost confidence.

You're raising a correct point here. A lot of voters will vote for a candidate from their own town or area regardless of their party rather than choosing a party's policies and voting for that party's candidate. This is especially true in large constituencies and constituencies that cover more than one county. When the big freeze occured back in December and January, and also on a local hospital issues, the local FF councillors were seen to be active on these issues than their FG counterparts. FF will still get votes and seats on this basis.

[RMDrive]

I am possibly going to vote for a Fianna Fail candidate in the next election. There, I've said it. It pains me to think I might vote for the party who have brought this country to ruin. But here's the thing, a local Fianna Fail TD managed to inform me of an entitlement others told me I wasn't entitled to. It has made a substantial difference to me. And that, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with Irish politics and I'm perpetuating it. This bit of work that my local Fianna Fail TD did for me shouldn't be their job. It ought to be the job of local councillors. But we've a political system where it is more important for TDs to do things at a local level than show leadership and nous in running the country. Of course it can be pointed out that if that's the way I feel, I ought to vote for someone else to change things. But I'm very grateful for the work that has been done. I would feel guilty if I didn't vote for this TD. It is a personal vote not a party one, although I know it amounts to the same thing. I haven't completely decided to go this way but its the way I'm leaning at the minute.

A few other points. I haven't voted FF all my life. I've mixed it between FF and FG. We've never had decent Labour options in Mayo. Although that is not the case next time around. I wouldn't vote for SF. If Ireland had a strong Labour Party - they sounded their own death knell by not contesting the 1921 elections, which is amazing really - then I feel we wouldn't be in the same situation as we are in now. But Labour have been too weak nationally. I hope that is about to change. Would FG have done a better job than FF. Probably but I cannot say that with the utmost confidence.

You're raising a correct point here. A lot of voters will vote for a candidate from their own town or area regardless of their party rather than choosing a party's policies and voting for that party's candidate. This is especially true in large constituencies and constituencies that cover more than one county. When the big freeze occured back in December and January, and also on a local hospital issues, the local FF councillors were seen to be active on these issues than their FG counterparts. FF will still get votes and seats on this basis.

On what other basis is there to get votes? People are voting for someone to represent their local area and are looking for someone who will promote their interests. Otherwise why bother having candidaes at all? Just let people pick a party instead?

[muppet]

I am possibly going to vote for a Fianna Fail candidate in the next election. There, I've said it. It pains me to think I might vote for the party who have brought this country to ruin. But here's the thing, a local Fianna Fail TD managed to inform me of an entitlement others told me I wasn't entitled to. It has made a substantial difference to me. And that, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with Irish politics and I'm perpetuating it. This bit of work that my local Fianna Fail TD did for me shouldn't be their job. It ought to be the job of local councillors. But we've a political system where it is more important for TDs to do things at a local level than show leadership and nous in running the country. Of course it can be pointed out that if that's the way I feel, I ought to vote for someone else to change things. But I'm very grateful for the work that has been done. I would feel guilty if I didn't vote for this TD. It is a personal vote not a party one, although I know it amounts to the same thing. I haven't completely decided to go this way but its the way I'm leaning at the minute.

A few other points. I haven't voted FF all my life. I've mixed it between FF and FG. We've never had decent Labour options in Mayo. Although that is not the case next time around. I wouldn't vote for SF. If Ireland had a strong Labour Party - they sounded their own death knell by not contesting the 1921 elections, which is amazing really - then I feel we wouldn't be in the same situation as we are in now. But Labour have been too weak nationally. I hope that is about to change. Would FG have done a better job than FF. Probably but I cannot say that with the utmost confidence.

You're raising a correct point here. A lot of voters will vote for a candidate from their own town or area regardless of their party rather than choosing a party's policies and voting for that party's candidate. This is especially true in large constituencies and constituencies that cover more than one county. When the big freeze occured back in December and January, and also on a local hospital issues, the local FF councillors were seen to be active on these issues than their FG counterparts. FF will still get votes and seats on this basis.

On what other basis is there to get votes? People are voting for someone to represent their local area and are looking for someone who will promote their interests. Otherwise why bother having candidaes at all? Just let people pick a party instead?

They have bankrupted your local area, my local area and everyone else's local area.

I'm reading here that people will vote for a member of an organisation that has destroyed the country on the basis that they got a medical card/planning permission or whatever from that person.

That explains to me why Ireland is where it is and why it will never escape from corruption and croneyism.

[Nally Stand]

From reading a few posts i've gathered that Sinn Féin are not popular in the South. Can anyone tell me why?

I am not in the slightest trying to stir sh*t and I am asking this as a serious question in this regard, for the 26 county contingent.

What circumstances must there be before people in the twenty six counties will genuinely give a fiddlers fart about partition of their country? It seems that the prevailing attitudes in the south are either "f**k the nordies" or "ahh a united Ireland would be nice yes, but it's not important".

When will it EVER become important? When times were "good" and the 'celtic tiger' was running rampant, partition and the six counties didn't matter a damn as there was money flowing and greed was the attitude of the day. Now when times are bad, it's still a case of forget about the nordies for now, where'd all the money go?

For a state obsessed with civil war politics, nobody seems all that bothered about the single biggest lasting outcome of the civil war which was the division of the country. The prevailing sentiments of this thread seem to be that Irish politics needs to be totally shaken up but needless to say, for generations to come, it will go back and forward between the FF & FG. Neither of which, and particularly not FG, give a rats ass about partition.

As I say, I am not trying to stir sh*t here. As many will know on the board, my sympathies lie with SF but that is for the simple fact that for me, and as Mayogodhelpus says about himself, I am a patriotic person. And as such I regard the division of Ireland as wholly unacceptable I will always support the party which is most serious about ending it.

Serious responses only please, as I'm not looking for an argument; it's a question of genuine curiosity.

[RMDrive]

I am possibly going to vote for a Fianna Fail candidate in the next election. There, I've said it. It pains me to think I might vote for the party who have brought this country to ruin. But here's the thing, a local Fianna Fail TD managed to inform me of an entitlement others told me I wasn't entitled to. It has made a substantial difference to me. And that, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with Irish politics and I'm perpetuating it. This bit of work that my local Fianna Fail TD did for me shouldn't be their job. It ought to be the job of local councillors. But we've a political system where it is more important for TDs to do things at a local level than show leadership and nous in running the country. Of course it can be pointed out that if that's the way I feel, I ought to vote for someone else to change things. But I'm very grateful for the work that has been done. I would feel guilty if I didn't vote for this TD. It is a personal vote not a party one, although I know it amounts to the same thing. I haven't completely decided to go this way but its the way I'm leaning at the minute.

A few other points. I haven't voted FF all my life. I've mixed it between FF and FG. We've never had decent Labour options in Mayo. Although that is not the case next time around. I wouldn't vote for SF. If Ireland had a strong Labour Party - they sounded their own death knell by not contesting the 1921 elections, which is amazing really - then I feel we wouldn't be in the same situation as we are in now. But Labour have been too weak nationally. I hope that is about to change. Would FG have done a better job than FF. Probably but I cannot say that with the utmost confidence.

You're raising a correct point here. A lot of voters will vote for a candidate from their own town or area regardless of their party rather than choosing a party's policies and voting for that party's candidate. This is especially true in large constituencies and constituencies that cover more than one county. When the big freeze occured back in December and January, and also on a local hospital issues, the local FF councillors were seen to be active on these issues than their FG counterparts. FF will still get votes and seats on this basis.

On what other basis is there to get votes? People are voting for someone to represent their local area and are looking for someone who will promote their interests. Otherwise why bother having candidaes at all? Just let people pick a party instead?

They have bankrupted your local area, my local area and everyone else's local area.

I'm reading here that people will vote for a member of an organisation that has destroyed the country on the basis that they got a medical card/planning permission or whatever from that person.

That explains to me why Ireland is where it is and why it will never escape from corruption and croneyism.

How has the local FG TD in my area bankrupted it?

[RedandGreenSniper]

I am possibly going to vote for a Fianna Fail candidate in the next election. There, I've said it. It pains me to think I might vote for the party who have brought this country to ruin. But here's the thing, a local Fianna Fail TD managed to inform me of an entitlement others told me I wasn't entitled to. It has made a substantial difference to me. And that, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with Irish politics and I'm perpetuating it. This bit of work that my local Fianna Fail TD did for me shouldn't be their job. It ought to be the job of local councillors. But we've a political system where it is more important for TDs to do things at a local level than show leadership and nous in running the country. Of course it can be pointed out that if that's the way I feel, I ought to vote for someone else to change things. But I'm very grateful for the work that has been done. I would feel guilty if I didn't vote for this TD. It is a personal vote not a party one, although I know it amounts to the same thing. I haven't completely decided to go this way but its the way I'm leaning at the minute.

A few other points. I haven't voted FF all my life. I've mixed it between FF and FG. We've never had decent Labour options in Mayo. Although that is not the case next time around. I wouldn't vote for SF. If Ireland had a strong Labour Party - they sounded their own death knell by not contesting the 1921 elections, which is amazing really - then I feel we wouldn't be in the same situation as we are in now. But Labour have been too weak nationally. I hope that is about to change. Would FG have done a better job than FF. Probably but I cannot say that with the utmost confidence.

You're raising a correct point here. A lot of voters will vote for a candidate from their own town or area regardless of their party rather than choosing a party's policies and voting for that party's candidate. This is especially true in large constituencies and constituencies that cover more than one county. When the big freeze occured back in December and January, and also on a local hospital issues, the local FF councillors were seen to be active on these issues than their FG counterparts. FF will still get votes and seats on this basis.

On what other basis is there to get votes? People are voting for someone to represent their local area and are looking for someone who will promote their interests. Otherwise why bother having candidaes at all? Just let people pick a party instead?

They have bankrupted your local area, my local area and everyone else's local area.

I'm reading here that people will vote for a member of an organisation that has destroyed the country on the basis that they got a medical card/planning permission or whatever from that person.

That explains to me why Ireland is where it is and why it will never escape from corruption and croneyism.

Do you not think that it is more a case of it being the problem that I or you go to TDs with these problems? That our political system fosters this kind of representation. We will never get out of where we are while we have the quality of TDs that we have. 80% of whom are zero use at running the country. They get in and stay in based on being able to do some small bits locally. Parish pump politics. I understood completely how it appears I'm perpetuating this if I vote for someone with FF after their name. 

[muppet]

Do you not think that it is more a case of it being the problem that I or you go to TDs with these problems? That our political system fosters this kind of representation. We will never get out of where we are while we have the quality of TDs that we have. 80% of whom are zero use at running the country. They get in and stay in based on being able to do some small bits locally. Parish pump politics. I understood completely how it appears I'm perpetuating this if I vote for someone with FF after their name.

I think Irish people are remarkably resourceful in finding excuses to vote for the most incompetent Government in our history and one of the most incompetent in European history.

100 years ago we were the poorest country in Europe, even poorer than Albania.
In nearly a century of independence we had grown to a position of relative (if only on paper) wealth.
Now we are on a rapid slide back to where we came from and still there are citizens who want to re-elect those who did this to us. The mind boggles.

[RMDrive]

Do you not think that it is more a case of it being the problem that I or you go to TDs with these problems? That our political system fosters this kind of representation. We will never get out of where we are while we have the quality of TDs that we have. 80% of whom are zero use at running the country. They get in and stay in based on being able to do some small bits locally. Parish pump politics. I understood completely how it appears I'm perpetuating this if I vote for someone with FF after their name.

I think Irish people are remarkably resourceful in finding excuses to vote for the most incompetent Government in our history and one of the most incompetent in European history.

100 years ago we were the poorest country in Europe, even poorer than Albania.
In nearly a century of independence we had grown to a position of relative (if only on paper) wealth.
Now we are on a rapid slide back to where we came from and still there are citizens who want to re-elect those who did this to us. The mind boggles.

LOL. Good man. You let it all out now.
And when you have calmed down a wee bit you might think about those people (including me) who voted for FG or Lab candidates so that there would be strong representation for their area at a national level.