I voted last week. Among others in defence forces/Garda. For me personally I still felt Ill informed about it,when addresses by party leaders is too late for me.

They should make it so that People in the Islands can either vote the same time as everyone one or that no broadcast should take place after the polls open. All one has to do is look at what happened with Sean Gallagher last year. Many people on the Islands would have voted before his collapse.

That moratorium came in before the internet had evolved. It only applies to TV broadcasts, and yet the reality is such that most people gleam their news from sources like “Journal.ie” etc. In other words, its an outdated prohibition and serves absolutely no purpose.

I think it would be more important to put a ban on opinion polls once an election or referendum is called. They are often more about setting the agenda rather than measuring levels of support for parties or referendum subjects.

It should never have been brought in in the first place. It’s bullshit.

I am bombarded with information about this Fiscal/Stability/Austerity (or whatever you want to call it) Treaty and am heartily sick of it. Irish media over-discuss ever political situation to death – keeping them in jobs and keeping wanna-be politicians in the public eye and of course there has to be discord or politicians and media would lose out.

Whatever about the moratorium on broadcasters, I’d like to see a ban on all of those polls that are done before a vote is held. They are a massive influence on the result I reckon.

Put the arguments out there and let people make up their own minds. Then let the vote be held and then let the result be known. That should be, in my opinion, be the one and only poll. Same for local and general elections.

My tuppence worth.

Would cost a fortune and solve nothing

It is important to have that “calm before the storm” so-to-speak. The moratorium allows for people to make up their own minds before voting and not to be swayed by either camp.