Vote

[give her dixie]

I thought it was the Protestant farmers that got her elected!

It was those 4 farmers who got her over the line !!

[give her dixie]

The thing about voting for Sinn Fein is that the person you vote for isn't the one that ends up representing you. They abuse the rules in order to run a high profile person, then stand them down and shoe horn in someone that in most cases, has never been heard of before. Nice work if you can get it eh?

Some examples of this strategy:

Euro election 2009:

Bairbre de Brun elected with 126,184 first preference votes

Replaced by Martina Anderson

2011 Assembley

Conor Murphy elected and replaced by Megan Fearon

Michelle Gildernew elected and replaced by Bronwyn McGahan

Paul Maskey elected and replaced by Rosie McCorley

Pat Doherty elected and replaced by Declan McAleer

Willy Clarke elected and replaced by Chris Hazzard

Martina Anderson elected and replaced by Maeve McLaughlin

Francie Molloy elected and replaced by Ian Milne

Plus, lets not forget how Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness as MP's both walked out on the people who elected them in order to run for office in the 26 counties.

So, it doesn't matter who you vote for in Sinn Fein, it's who they choose that ends up representing you.

Democracy eh?

[ziggysego]

I've been disenfranchised by my firm - have lost my vote as I'm working in London this wk.
This day 16 years ago we were all voting in the referendum for the GFA. It was my 18th birthday so I remember it well. This birthday will go down in memory as the one I didn't vote on. 

What a way to hint it's your birthday.

Happy Birthday Miss Rois of Tir Eoghain.

[AZOffaly]

And she's well the wrong side of 30 too. Ah well, like a good wine Happy Birthday

[ziggysego]

The thing about voting for Sinn Fein is that the person you vote for isn't the one that ends up representing you. They abuse the rules in order to run a high profile person, then stand them down and shoe horn in someone that in most cases, has never been heard of before. Nice work if you can get it eh?

Some examples of this strategy:

Euro election 2009:

Bairbre de Brun elected with 126,184 first preference votes

Replaced by Martina Anderson

2011 Assembley

Conor Murphy elected and replaced by Megan Fearon

Michelle Gildernew elected and replaced by Bronwyn McGahan

Paul Maskey elected and replaced by Rosie McCorley

Pat Doherty elected and replaced by Declan McAleer

Willy Clarke elected and replaced by Chris Hazzard

Martina Anderson elected and replaced by Maeve McLaughlin

Francie Molloy elected and replaced by Ian Milne

Plus, lets not forget how Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness as MP's both walked out on the people who elected them in order to run for office in the 26 counties.

So, it doesn't matter who you vote for in Sinn Fein, it's who they choose that ends up representing you.

Democracy eh?

A lot of parties did this to end double jobbing Dixie and in the case of De Brun, she stepped down due to illness.

[All of a Sludden]

Hard to bate a bit of good old fashioned tribalism, so it is.

[Nally Stand]

The thing about voting for Sinn Fein is that the person you vote for isn't the one that ends up representing you. They abuse the rules in order to run a high profile person, then stand them down and shoe horn in someone that in most cases, has never been heard of before. Nice work if you can get it eh?

Some examples of this strategy:

Euro election 2009:

Bairbre de Brun elected with 126,184 first preference votes

Replaced by Martina Anderson

2011 Assembley

Conor Murphy elected and replaced by Megan Fearon

Michelle Gildernew elected and replaced by Bronwyn McGahan

Paul Maskey elected and replaced by Rosie McCorley

Pat Doherty elected and replaced by Declan McAleer

Willy Clarke elected and replaced by Chris Hazzard

Martina Anderson elected and replaced by Maeve McLaughlin

Francie Molloy elected and replaced by Ian Milne

Plus, lets not forget how Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness as MP's both walked out on the people who elected them in order to run for office in the 26 counties.

So, it doesn't matter who you vote for in Sinn Fein, it's who they choose that ends up representing you.

Democracy eh?

Bairbre De Brun stepped down on health grounds. Bloody shinners eh?
All of the rest you mentioned were changed due to the policy of ending double jobbing.

A poor effort Dixie. 2/10.

[give her dixie]

The thing about voting for Sinn Fein is that the person you vote for isn't the one that ends up representing you. They abuse the rules in order to run a high profile person, then stand them down and shoe horn in someone that in most cases, has never been heard of before. Nice work if you can get it eh?

Some examples of this strategy:

Euro election 2009:

Bairbre de Brun elected with 126,184 first preference votes

Replaced by Martina Anderson

2011 Assembley

Conor Murphy elected and replaced by Megan Fearon

Michelle Gildernew elected and replaced by Bronwyn McGahan

Paul Maskey elected and replaced by Rosie McCorley

Pat Doherty elected and replaced by Declan McAleer

Willy Clarke elected and replaced by Chris Hazzard

Martina Anderson elected and replaced by Maeve McLaughlin

Francie Molloy elected and replaced by Ian Milne

Plus, lets not forget how Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness as MP's both walked out on the people who elected them in order to run for office in the 26 counties.

So, it doesn't matter who you vote for in Sinn Fein, it's who they choose that ends up representing you.

Democracy eh?

A lot of parties did this to end double jobbing Dixie and in the case of De Brun, she stepped down due to illness.

Double jobbing was as big an issue before the Stormont elections as it was when Sinn Fein stood down their MP's a few months later.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11529007

Sinn Fein pulled a fast one here by running high profile people who got elected no problem, and then replaced them with people who were never really heard of before a few months later. Would these 4 people, one of whom was 20 at the time and virtually unknown, got elected if they had of stood a few months previously?

Co Opting is rife among local councils where 1 in 7 are unelected. The DUP and Sinn Fein the biggest offenders. This article spells it out by the numbers:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/one-in-seven-councillors-unelected-revelation-described-as-complete-abuse-of-democratic-system-29924514.html

The reality was, money was the factor.

Here are a couple of paragraphs from a June 2012 article that can help explain it:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/sinn-fein-under-fire-over-westminster-expense-claims-28763068.html

"Recently, the party announced four MPs who are also MLAs would stand down from the Assembly to concentrate on Westminster.

The move could prove lucrative. Sinn Fein would have lost more than £700,000 in future expenses had they not ordered its five MPs to quit Stormont.

A redrafting of expenses by the Report of the Independent Financial Review Panel will progressively reduce the £73,583 in office expenses MLAs now receive.

If an Assembly member was also an MP they were entitled to just half the office expenses a non double-jobbing MLA received.

But the amount of Office Cost Expenditure (OCE) payable to MLAs who are also MPs is limited to £27,594 per annum this financial year, £17,844 for 2013/14 and £8,655 for 2014/15, an Assembly spokesperson said.

When the four Sinn Fein MPs quitting the Assembly are replaced and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness steps down as an MP, the party will benefit from full OCE allowances."


Now, if you factor in that once nestled into their new roles at Stormont, they voted to extend their term by another year. Not content with that, they voted to give themselves a £5,000 per year pay rise, taking their salary to £48,000 per year. Before expenses.

Now, isn't that a nice salary for a 20 year old just out of college?

Didn't even have to get elected, yet was eligible to give herself a pay rise and a years extension to her term.

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/regional/mlas-fury-at-5-000-pay-rise-1-3625601

Sinn Fein came in for criticism for fiddling expenses when it was revealed that Conor Murphy only stayed 1 night in a flat that Sinn Fein claimed £5,400 per month
in expenses. The ink cartridges saga both in the Dail and in Stormont didn't help either.

Learning their lesson, they now fiddle the system in a legal and legitimate way based on the current rules. They maximise the profit all the time.

If that means moving the deck chairs, then so be it. To the leadership, the democratic wishes of over 200,000 didn't count, and what we have seen with the Caterpillar fiasco,  neither did the democratic wishes of their members .

Their approach can be best summed up in this "Bulls" clip from Colours:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbUxePfsoWE

[armaghniac]

Doubt whether there are two "nationalist" seats in the North...yet  As Martina Anderson said had there been a prospect of two nationalist/republican seats then SF would have run two candidates.  Anderson, Dodds & Nicholson in that order.  Allister polling numbers are well down on last time when I think he got 66,000 first preferences.  Will be interesting to see how UKIP do.

Perhaps not two "nationalist" seats, but there is surely some prospect of a middle seat of some sort, for instance if Lo got elected it would be an important statement about change in NI. But I think this kind of thinking is beyond the average SF voter.

A lot of parties did this to end double jobbing Dixie and in the case of De Brun, she stepped down due to illness.

Presumably double jobbing could have been ended by the those with 2 jobs not standing the election and allowing the people, rather than the party, choose the newcomer.

[Nally Stand]

The thing about voting for Sinn Fein is that the person you vote for isn't the one that ends up representing you. They abuse the rules in order to run a high profile person, then stand them down and shoe horn in someone that in most cases, has never been heard of before. Nice work if you can get it eh?

Some examples of this strategy:

Euro election 2009:

Bairbre de Brun elected with 126,184 first preference votes

Replaced by Martina Anderson

2011 Assembley

Conor Murphy elected and replaced by Megan Fearon

Michelle Gildernew elected and replaced by Bronwyn McGahan

Paul Maskey elected and replaced by Rosie McCorley

Pat Doherty elected and replaced by Declan McAleer

Willy Clarke elected and replaced by Chris Hazzard

Martina Anderson elected and replaced by Maeve McLaughlin

Francie Molloy elected and replaced by Ian Milne

Plus, lets not forget how Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness as MP's both walked out on the people who elected them in order to run for office in the 26 counties.

So, it doesn't matter who you vote for in Sinn Fein, it's who they choose that ends up representing you.

Democracy eh?

A lot of parties did this to end double jobbing Dixie and in the case of De Brun, she stepped down due to illness.

Double jobbing was as big an issue before the Stormont elections as it was when Sinn Fein stood down their MP's a few months later.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11529007

Sinn Fein pulled a fast one here by running high profile people who got elected no problem, and then replaced them with people who were never really heard of before a few months later. Would these 4 people, one of whom was 20 at the time and virtually unknown, got elected if they had of stood a few months previously?

Co Opting is rife among local councils where 1 in 7 are unelected. The DUP and Sinn Fein the biggest offenders. This article spells it out by the numbers:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/one-in-seven-councillors-unelected-revelation-described-as-complete-abuse-of-democratic-system-29924514.html

The reality was, money was the factor.

Here are a couple of paragraphs from a June 2012 article that can help explain it:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/sinn-fein-under-fire-over-westminster-expense-claims-28763068.html

"Recently, the party announced four MPs who are also MLAs would stand down from the Assembly to concentrate on Westminster.

The move could prove lucrative. Sinn Fein would have lost more than £700,000 in future expenses had they not ordered its five MPs to quit Stormont.

A redrafting of expenses by the Report of the Independent Financial Review Panel will progressively reduce the £73,583 in office expenses MLAs now receive.

If an Assembly member was also an MP they were entitled to just half the office expenses a non double-jobbing MLA received.

But the amount of Office Cost Expenditure (OCE) payable to MLAs who are also MPs is limited to £27,594 per annum this financial year, £17,844 for 2013/14 and £8,655 for 2014/15, an Assembly spokesperson said.

When the four Sinn Fein MPs quitting the Assembly are replaced and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness steps down as an MP, the party will benefit from full OCE allowances."


Now, if you factor in that once nestled into their new roles at Stormont, they voted to extend their term by another year. Not content with that, they voted to give themselves a £5,000 per year pay rise, taking their salary to £48,000 per year. Before expenses.

Now, isn't that a nice salary for a 20 year old just out of college?

Didn't even have to get elected, yet was eligible to give herself a pay rise and a years extension to her term.

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/regional/mlas-fury-at-5-000-pay-rise-1-3625601

Sinn Fein came in for criticism for fiddling expenses when it was revealed that Conor Murphy only stayed 1 night in a flat that Sinn Fein claimed £5,400 per month
in expenses. The ink cartridges saga both in the Dail and in Stormont didn't help either.

Learning their lesson, they now fiddle the system in a legal and legitimate way based on the current rules. They maximise the profit all the time.

If that means moving the deck chairs, then so be it. To the leadership, the democratic wishes of over 200,000 didn't count, and what we have seen with the Caterpillar fiasco,  neither did the democratic wishes of their members .

Their approach can be best summed up in this "Bulls" clip from Colours:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbUxePfsoWE

You're suggesting, for example, that in South Armagh, a SF stronghold, the people would rather vote for another party than SF because of Meagan McFearon's age? If they kept the 'old' hands with previous history in the army, you'd be on here lambasting them for that too no doubt. You've been in full scale shinner bashing form these days Dixie. If you're not careful you'll find yourself with a job at the Indo (speaking of which...it is today carrying the groundbreaking story that a former IRA man is supporting Matt Carthy's campaign. I know, OMG, right?!

If I were you, I'd spend the next few days with your head buried under a pillow. You're probably not going to like the news reports. Not one bit.

[AZOffaly]

Get it right Nally, what the indo said was 'Cowardly Mountbatten murderer campaigns for Sinn Fein' . It really is a rag. Even if they left it at Mountbatten murderer campaigns for Sinn Fein you'd acknowledge it was factual, if hardly news. The 'Cowardly' is all their own work.

[Feckitt]

There is a very real possibility that there could be two nationalist euro seats in the North, and there is also a possibility of a Nationalist majority on Belfast City Council.

So today,
Text your sister to remind her to vote.
Call round to your mother to see if wants to go to the polling station
Facebook message your friend and tell them to vote
Ring your cousin and ask him has he voted yet

In the local elections a handful of votes often makes the difference. A personal appeal for a vote is the best canvass. Like me you may not belong to a political party, but you still want to see your team win, so please make the small effort to encourage your friends and family to vote.

Everyone, Republican or otherwise has their own particular part to play. No part is too great or too small, no one is too old or too young to do something.

[OakleafCounty]

There is a very real possibility that there could be two nationalist euro seats in the North, and there is also a possibility of a Nationalist majority on Belfast City Council.

So today,
Text your sister to remind her to vote.
Call round to your mother to see if wants to go to the polling station
Facebook message your friend and tell them to vote
Ring your cousin and ask him has he voted yet

In the local elections a handful of votes often makes the difference. A personal appeal for a vote is the best canvass. Like me you may not belong to a political party, but you still want to see your team win, so please make the small effort to encourage your friends and family to vote.

Everyone, Republican or otherwise has their own particular part to play. No part is too great or too small, no one is too old or too young to do something.

No there won't as that would depend on all nationalists voting relatively evenly for Sinn Fein or SDLP. I'll be voting for neither. Anna Lo has my vote as she deserves it a hell of a lot more than that binlid Anderson and Attwood the snob!

Time for the green and blue bullshit to dissapear! Every election isn't a referndum on Irish unity and I wish people would see that!

[give her dixie]

Nally, in Newry and Armagh there are 6 MLA seats. The quota for election was approx 6,500. Sinn Fein took 3 seats with Conor Murphy topping the poll. Their 3rd candidate only got 3,254 1st preference votes, and only got elected on the 6th count.

So, are you trying to tell me that a 20 year old student who was tweeting about Desperate Housewives a few weeks before the election would have got elected?

If so, what does that tell us about the electorate? As long as its a Sinn Fein candidate sure they'll get the vote? Do you not think people vote on past experience of the candidates? Sure they might as well run mannequins  if that is the case.

In the past 3 elections I voted for Larry McLearnon in the local council, and got a woman who just just recently joined Sinn Fein. She is now running for the super council.

I voted for Michelle Gildernew to represent me in Stormont, and I got Bromwyn McGahan.

I voted for Bairbre de Brun in Europe, and I got Martina Anderson.

Neither of those 3 replacements would have got my vote if they had of stood. As a general rule, I vote for the person who I feel best represents my views, and on what they have done in the past. I see past the green and orange on election days. So, maybe you can understand why i'm angry at the abuse of power when it comes to co opting.

As for "bashing" Sinn Fein, i'm only responding to the vile and malicious lies been spread about me over the past 6 months from a Sinn Fein official. Feel free to debate the various points I raised on the relevant thread. Where would you like to start? Boston tapes? Co opting? Expense fiddling? Caterpillar or Gaza perhaps? Character assassination? Or, we could discuss child abuse cover up?

As for burying my head tomorrow, I have no need to. I already know Sinn Fein will do very well in the 26 counties. The people are crying out for a change from the previous and current parties, and they are willing to give Sinn Fein the chance. Plus, given that Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness both accepted the British aristocratic title of       
"Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead" in order to swap the marble of Stormont for the marble in Dublin, it's no surprise as to where both men saw the future for Sinn Fein.

Drive across Ireland and you see all these young faces, mainly women, on election posters. Given that twice as many men vote for Sinn Fein than women, that is no co incidence.

Once upon a time the party had top quality people who could hold their own in any debate, on any subject. Now we see a party that is continually sidling them and replacing them with new young faces who repeat what is wrote out for them, or what Gerry tells them. Only a very select few are allowed to go on TV or radio and speak.

If Sinn Fein were half as good at tackling poverty as they are at winning and manipulating elections, then West Belfast wouldn't have the 2nd highest rate of poverty in the UK at 43%. And neither would Derry and Strabane be in the top 20 out of 650. All areas with a large Sinn Fein representation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-21506734 

[Bensars]

Get it right Nally, what the indo said was 'Cowardly Mountbatten murderer campaigns for Sinn Fein' . It really is a rag. Even if they left it at Mountbatten murderer campaigns for Sinn Fein you'd acknowledge it was factual, if hardly news. The 'Cowardly' is all their own work.

That was the cover story  of Sunday world two or even three weeks ago.  Strange they would run it only now.