A majority of NO here is not a surprise. These are people who’d never vote FG anyway and who’ll simply dismiss this as a silly gimmick without even trying out the website. The real fact here is that it’s highly unlikely that any current Fine Gael voters will be turned off this? It’s ONLY going to draw people to the party. The only answer to this poll is YES.

FG are catching fish in a barrel at the moment, given the current state of their twin-sister party. This doesn’t make Enda and the lads good fishermen. In fact, it says more about us fishes in this small barrel than anything else.

The video message has already succeeded by simply getting the words “Enda Kenny” and “Obama” into the same sentence. The ruse of asking people what’s wrong with the country (I’d have thought that was fairly obvious!) and how they’d like to fix it is just an on-line version of the standard “What can I do for you?” type of vote-getting stunt.

“standing down” the current BBC clone website. I’d bet when they come back it’ll be a complete redevelopment of that atrocity. Also is it really wise to completely remove your website for this length of time, I don’t see any other means of an FG website than this gimmick.

They wont even change anything , it’s all fake.
If they actually do listen and change then it’s amazing , but I doubt they’ll even read the comments.

Personally I think it’s a great idea: But sadly they have, along with Labour shown themselves almost useless in opposition. The Country is in dire straits and none of the established political parties have shown any aptitude for thinking outside the box ie. dropping the Euro, leaving the EU, holding themselves accountable for their departments failings, having more sustainable numbers in the PS, to name a few.

This is a positive development. This shows that Fine Gael are thinking outside box and are actively interacting online with the public. I like the idea that a political party is actually listening to what the people have to say.

@GillianBoyle Care to add any affiliations you might have???

Does this mean they haven’t been listening to the people thus far? It’s an election stunt, and a bad one at that!!

I honestly think Enda means what he says, and wants to change things, However once he does get elected the Sir Humphrey’s will get a hold of him and it will be business as usual sadly

It is online interaction – the party is moving with the times. I don’t care to announce any political affiliations, how about yourself?

“… appealing for ideas about what can be done to fix it”. Aren’t they supposed to have these “ideas” already formulated as policy given that an election will be called in the next 3 months? Sounds like a bit of PR sheen over the way the electorate will continue to vote …. along civil war politics.

Listening to what people are saying? they must have a long list of planning permissions, rezonings, hospital beds and pot holes to sort out then.

They aren’t moving with the times. If they were, they wouldn’t be using the web to display that they are bereft of policy and asking the public to make it up for them. They’ve had 10 years in opposition to canvas for ideas and work out their policies.

Someday, we’ll have a party that’s actually fit for a national parliament.

Saying that because the poll has <50% support that this initiative will be a failure is missing a key point. The 'Yes' vote is 10%-15% higher than Fine Gael's current ratings in the polls. That can only be good news for FG.

@GillianBoyle

I have no political affiliations whatsoever.

But if I followed a number of FG people on Twitter and then came on here to hail FG’s latest stunt, then I would certainly declare such affiliations.

How exactly is this a “risky strategy” ?! If the article isn’t honest, it will reflect on how the vote is conducted.

Look dose it really matter who we vote for or who gets in because at the end of the day they really don’t care I have yet to meet a politician who will tell the truth so no matter what stunt they pull they still going to lie to me and the rest of Ireland

It won’t attract me as a voter. Just like having Enda Kenny as leader doesn’t attract me to the party. The truth is that all our political parties are failures.

will it make a difference: NO. Nothing will change in our countrys political arena until the “old boy network” is done away with..the political infrastructure, just like the banking system, needs a major overhaul, new blood, new ideas and the young voters of this country to be less apathetic and get out and vote…

I do think we should realise that Enda ain’t no Obama, he doesn’t have the star-appeal. .. If he shouts ‘Can we fix it’, I doubt the nation will shout back ‘Yes we can!’

Seriously – is this guy the best that FG has???!

I’ll still vote for them, just because they’re not Fianna Fail more than anything else though – but can’t help but dread that it will be a short lived coalition with this guy at the helm.

Step aside Enda – you know you’re not up to this and there are plenty of very able people in your party who are – do it for your country….

looks great

Should who leads a party be so important. Sadly, in FG’s case it does. Fortunately for them, they’re shooting at an open goal. Imagine if they had a plausible leader and front bench. Sadly, all this stuff about FG going modern, abolishing the Senate and all the other distractions, gets in the way of a serious debate about the real changes needed to drag Ireland into the 21st century. The outcome of the election will be horribly predictable. FG/Labour coalition. More seats for SF. Meltdown for FF and Greens. Maybe a modest increase in independents, but not enough to challenge the status quo and probably the same kind we’ve had to endure for decades – feathering their own nests and focused on getting re-elected. I’ll e spoiling the ballot. If enough voters do this, the message will be clear that we need major constitutional change…

Does the new FG frontpage matter? – probably not much.
Does the media coverage of it matter? – absolutely.

Do we need the kind of root and branch changes they propose? – yes definitely. The Irish government is broken. This is pretty obvious at ministerial level, but it’s equally true at civil service and local authority level. We don’t know that all FG’s ideas will work, thought they do seem feasible, but we do know that we cannot continue as before.

@David Higgins I can’t see how the only answer could be yes.
FG & labour have been utterly useless in opposition. I would dearly love a change of government and would love to be able to vote in another party with confidence. The problem is when I look at any of the three main parties, FF FG or Lab I am filled with nothing but disappointment and disillusionment.
I don’t see any of the main parties having the leadership or skills needed to take us out of recession, rebuild the economy and reform our political system.
This is another gimmick from a FG leader I have zero confidence in and certainly won’t win my vote.

If something good comes of the suggestions generated by the public then it will have been a success.

Perhaps this is will become the norm in Irish politics from now on, Political parties that actually listen to their electorate?

When it comes down to the wire there is little difference between Fianna Fails and Fine Gael’s policies. Both parties are Conservative. Its the reason why Big Business and the Banks got away with so much. Gerry Adams has the better ideas and ideals. I am not a follower of Sein Fein but suggest that the big parties had better listen to him.
What is needed is a true Socialist Government or a good alternative to the Government’s policies. Eamonn Gilmore, Labour, is possibly the better alternative but should encourage affiliation with Gerry Adams.

@AlanFarrell

See comments above Councillor re declaring affiliations…

Create a Socialist Government as an alternative to both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. Eamonn Gilmore and Gerry Adams have better policies than both the right wing parties. Fine Gael are too Conservative. They are also too similar to Fianna Fail.
Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are the reason why Big Businesses and the Banks have got away with so much. No prosecutions because it would involve the Government and the main opposition.

At election-time I cannot vote because there isn’t an alternative middle-of-the -road party.

Your country needs you to LOOK IN THE CAMERA ENDA

John you are completely right, at least with Sinn Fein we know what we are getting, guns runners and bank thieves.

It’s not a terrible idea, it’s nice to see something a bit fresh or different in Irish politics. But can anyone say ‘Contract for a Better Ireland’? Gimmick. Also why is he in a café? Bizarre.

The video is poorly directed and rather bizarre. Why was it done in a noisy cafe? What on earth is going on with his hair? Why is he focusing his gaze above, rather than into, the camera? Why is there no proper introduction? It seems to begin when he is in mid-sentence with…”actually I want to talk to you…” And when do you ”stand down” a website? They could have kept the website functioning as normal with a space for our suggestions on the main page. It’s a fairly good, if unoriginal, idea but this amateurish way of going about it has left a very poor impression already.