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GE2024the morning leadA CHORUS OF ‘Come Out Ye Black and Tans’ was how veteran Sinn Féin politician Dessie Ellis and his supporters celebrated on 9 February 2020 after he topped the poll by a spectacular margin in Dublin North West.
Almost one in two voters in the suburban constituency had given Ellis their first preference vote.
Now though, nationally, Sinn Féin is polling several points behind where it stood in early 2020 (and several points behind Fine Gael and, though by a smaller margin, Fianna Fáil). Sinn Féin had a terrible local election, with just 12% of voters giving the party their number one.
Some voters who were among the 44% in Dublin North West to give Sinn Féin their first preference in 2020 told The Journal they won’t do so again on 29 November.
However, there was a warm reception for Ellis’s running mate, Cathleen Carney Boud, on several doorsteps on Thursday evening, especially among voters for whom housing and homelessness are top concerns – and it was clear there are plenty of those.
Carney Boud and her team were quietly confident that the party is bouncing back from the disastrous locals – maybe not to 2020 levels of support, but certainly to a point where there is a lot for Sinn Féin to play for in the remaining two weeks of campaigning.
Spanning suburbs mostly built in the 1950s and 1960s, Dublin North West is a mix of working and middle-class communities across Finglas, Ballymun, Whitehall, Beaumont and Santry, as well as parts of Glasnevin.
The slate of candidates in the three-seater includes sitting TD Paul McAuliffe of Fianna Fáil and former TD Noel Rock, who hopes to break back in for Fine Gael as part of a ‘Harris hop’ in the capital. Rory Hearne of the Social Democrats will try to retain Róisín Shortall’s long held seat for his party as she retires.
Two sitting councillors, anti-immigration Independent Gavin Pepper and Conor Reddy of People Before Profit (the last candidate eliminated in 2020, when he benefited from Ellis’s surplus), are also running. On Newstalk this week, broadcaster and former TD Ivan Yates called it for Ellis, McAuliffe and Reddy.
All the candidates running here and across the country are in The Journal’s candidate database.
Waiting lists for healthcare on the public system and the hoops people must jump through to obtain state assistance such as carers’ allowance were among the issues raised by voters when The Journal visited the constituency this week to take the temperature.
Recent scandals surrounding Sinn Féin – such as former Belfast press officer Michael McMonagle being jailed for nine months for child sex offences, or former Senator Niall Ó Donnaghaile being revealed as having sent inappropriate texts to a teenager - have not cut through with voters.
Rather, bread and butter issues are to the fore as the election approaches.
Housing and homelessness were undoubtedly the issues raised most often by voters, young and old.
A much smaller proportion of voters expressed frustration at immigration, in particular of young men, into Ireland and into their area; some of these voters planned to vote for Sinn Féin and some didn’t.
For some, immigration and housing are linked as issues, with inward migration perceived as exacerbating the scarcity of homes. Some people expressed the view that not enough has been done to help homeless Irish people.
Among those who voted Sinn Féin last time but are not planning to do so now, there was also a more generalised sense of disaffection and disillusion with the political establishment – and a perception that Sinn Féin is part of it.
“They’re all the same,” was a sentiment raised again and again.
This is a problem for Sinn Féin.
It was notable that Carney Boud’s key message on the doorsteps, repeated with great frequency, was: “We’re not in government.”
Sometimes she said this unprompted, and sometimes she said it after listening to the issues people raised, such as inadequate support for people with additional needs and their carers.
One woman, who struggled to find a school place for her son, asked Carney Boud what Mary Lou was doing.
“She’s not in government,” Carney Boud said. “We haven’t been given a chance to put in our plan.”
But the woman felt that, “at the end of the day, you’re all the same”.
After a back and forth, with Carney Boud explaining that Sinn Féin TDs do not hold power, the woman conceded she might “give Dessie the number one – ah I’m only joking”.
Carney Boud received a couple of hard ‘no’s on the doorsteps, but these were outnumbered by those who were keeping their cards close to their chests, and by several firm promises of a first preference vote.
One woman broke down in tears as she told Carney Boud of spending almost 20 years on the housing list and struggling to get a permanent home for her children.
An older voter proved a tougher customer, however, asking Carney Boud straight off the bat: “Where are you going to get this €39bn to build all these houses?”
“The issue is not money, the issue is political will. There’s plenty of money in the country,” Carney Boud replied, adding that housing, once built, is a “once off measure” and Sinn Féin’s plans are “costed”.
“I’m just a bit sceptical about all of that, to be honest with you, because you’ve got to have the budget for the day-to-day running of the country as well,” the man responded.
Sinn Féin not being in government presents it with a twofold problem. While some voters perceive the party as being an ineffective section of the establishment, because it has many elected TDs, others, including this man, expressed nervousness about a Sinn Féin government given it has no experience of power this side of the border.
When The Journal took to the streets in Dublin North West to speak to voters face to face, only a tiny minority indicated they don’t generally vote and don’t plan to this time. Most people were engaged and informed.
At the Omni shopping centre in Santry, Tara Curtis, a young woman from Ballymun, said Sinn Féin’s proposal to cut USC on the first €45,000 of income would be important for working class people. She said she needs to do more research but is leaning towards voting for Sinn Féin.
A young couple, Jennifer McKeown and Martin Cassin, said they plan to vote for Sinn Féin, with housing the issue uppermost in their minds. They live in a HAP property and expect to remain there, though they both have good jobs, while covering creche fees as well is “a nightmare”.
“It’s time for a change,” Cassin said.
Housing is an issue that evokes anger and frustration among the older generation too.
In Finglas Village, Ellis’s constituency office is directly below a large former office block, Raven House, which is currently being redeveloped as 37 apartments.
Looking at the scaffolding from the nearby taxi rank, taxi driver Derek Russell predicted: “It’ll be owned by vulture funds and pension funds, so you can’t buy apartments, you have to rent.”
He said that while 20% of the scheme would probably be reserved for social housing, people would have to be already in receipt of housing assistance payment (HAP) to access it, and it was “just horrible” for young people to have to go through that. He added that it was much too difficult for young people to get a mortgage.
Russell voted for Sinn Féin last time but doesn’t plan to do so this time. He doesn’t think that Sinn Féin in government would be very different to the current administration.
“When they get into government they’ll do the same as every other politician and say: ‘Oh we can’t do this, we can’t do that. What we said we would do, we can’t',” he said.
A few people indicated they will probably vote for Fianna Fáil; while some described themselves as lifelong supporters of the party, others were coming back after voting for Sinn Féin in 2020.
In the local elections, many people who wanted to turn away from the parties of government opted for Independents rather than Sinn Féin. As poor results rolled in from across the country on 9 June, party leader Mary Lou McDonald noted “frustration” and “anger” with government had translated into votes for Independents.
Talking to voters in Finglas village last week, it was clear that this remains a risk to the party’s support.
Denise Kearney, who voted Sinn Féin last time, said she won’t vote for them or indeed any of the larger parties this time, and instead plans to vote Independent.
“I felt we needed change, and that’s what they [Sinn Féin] pushed – they pushed for change. Their ideologies lately, they seem to be cornered against the Irish people,” she said.
Pat Lynch voted for anti-immigration candidate Independent Gavin Pepper in the local elections and will vote for him again in the general election. Pepper was elected to Dublin City Council in the Ballymun-Finglas ward in June.
Lynch said he works long hours and has to pay his own medical bills, whereas people are “coming in off the boat and given medical cards – that’s why I’m going Independent”.
He said when Sinn Féin knocked on his door in recent days he “ran them”.
Carney Boud said both she and Ellis are not hearing as much about immigration from voters as they did in the local elections.
“It’s calmed down. I think people are listening more and not jumping to conclusions with all the social media stuff that was rampant several months ago,” she said.
Sinn Féin enjoyed an 11-point swing nationally in 2020 relative to the previous general election in 2016 – but even by this standard the party’s performance in Dublin North West was outstanding, with a 23.9 point surge.
This was the biggest swing to Sinn Féin nationally, but there was disappointment for the party here as elsewhere.
Had the party given Ellis a running mate, he or she could have taken a second seat. Ellis’s first preferences alone represented almost 1.8 quotas.
There were three other Dublin constituencies with a swing of over 20 points to Sinn Féin, but the party only ran a second candidate and took a second seat in one of them, Dublin Mid-West.
In constituencies including Dublin South-West, Waterford and Mary Lou McDonald’s Dublin Central the party squandered huge first preference votes, and a shot at government, with its conservative strategy.
It will be hoping it can turn public anger and frustration at the housing crisis into enough votes this time to give it a another chance.
Carney Boud acknowledged that the party has not been doing as well as it was in opinion polls, but said that even if Sinn Féin were being “cautious” in Dublin North West, “you would probably still run two here”.
“We’re quite positive with the feedback in the last week, so we’ll see how it goes,” she said. “A week is a long time in politics. You never know what comes around the corner.”
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God almighty we’re a pathetic nation
Same old ding dong for 100 years
Some version of stockhom syndrome…..Irish people are terrified of change…
@Dave G Doe: it’s called stupidity
@David Cotter:you know the nazi party was democratic elected too doe…..learn from that
@David Cotter: couldn’t agree with you more! Unbelievable…
@David Cotter: i said exact same in a previous post especially the elderly they can’t do change…shame what a future ahead of us …
@David Cotter: It is more of an opinion on how poor the opposition and especially SF are not trusted.
@087 bed: Why didn’t circa 40% not vote?
@David Cotter: I don’t want FF or FG either but I gave SF the no 15 on my ballot as I believe they would be a disaster for the country.
@David Cotter: So people are stupid if they don’t vote to your way of thinking?
@David Cotter: It’s not Stockholm syndrome but intelligent voters. They don’t want the country run by the Ard Comhairle ( aka the Army Council ). Let SF in their own country solve the problem of half a million waiting for first consultant appointment and complete the maternity hospital before trying to usurp the government here.
@David Cotter: Voters have learned and that’s why they don’t vote SF.
@Temp Stuff: too busy on TikTok.
An entire generation of narcissists.
@David Cotter: You do realise that possibly subconsciously you have put your own spin on that ,maybe it’s choice ,not yours but choice none the less ,hey it is what it is…
@David Cotter: For a lot of people I think it’s the poor alternative available,a case of better the devil you know,personally speaking I think sf leading a left coalition government would be a disaster for the country.
@David Cotter: even if its a change for the worse? That’s what happened with Brexit and Boris Johnson
@David Cotter: Well, for every person of above average intelligence there is one of below average intelligence.
By definition.
In short, 50% of voters are some level of stupid.
Research has also shown that there is a correlation between low intelligence and support for right wing groups.
Make of that what we will.
@David Cotter: @Noelyj: That last comment was to be directed to Noelyj, but The Journal’s random function struck again.
@David Cotter: naw they just emigrate. The people didn’t lose this election Mary Lou did. 37% to 21% in one year.
@Dave G Doe: FF/FG joining again in not democracy. What’s the point in voting again if they are just going to keep joing together.
@David Cotter: as long as Sinn Fein are sidelined I’d all that matters. Good to see people seeing through their drivel
@David Cotter: so compliant….that must be why we were continually invaded…dominated and ruled over from the Vikings to brits to the church And now FFFG.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: The “below average intelligence” people, as you so nicely put it are obviously voting for the same shower of f00ls who have been wrecking this country for years. The “far right” don’t exist, anyone who buys into that notion is “below average intelligence”. Google Adolf Hitler if you want to know what far right is, you sad little girly.
@David Cotter: Oh stf up ya loser.
@David Cotter: An which category would you consider yourself to be in, pray tell?
@Vincent Alexander: total bigot.
@David Cotter: these comments always tickle me I must say. Talk about some hyperbole. Ireland has its problems. Same as every single country in the world. But it’s not like the country has made massive strides in the last 100 years. Not like we are one of the wealthiest countries in the world now. But keep beating the doomsday drum. It’s amusing.
@Eamon Morris: You clearly do not understand what democracy is.
@Dave G Doe: you seem to be saying democracy is perfect, it’s the best system we have but it’s not perfect, coalitions with small parties wagging the dog is ludicrous, yes it’s our own fault but I’d rather we didn’t have minorities with so much power
@David Cotter: get rid of elections waste of time .Same government for the next 100 years .Irish people must have a very low IQ .no people in Europe would tolerate the crap that’s being done to this country.emigration is something I’m seriously considering don’t want my kids growing up in this country
@David Cotter: the Nazi party was indeed voted in and there ended democracy because they ruled absolutely, destroying democracy in prewar Germany. Something, thankfully, that none of the normal parties here have ever hinted at. That said, smaller parties like Independant Ireland with their far right views, and Irish Freedom who want an Irish version of Brexit, scare me because if either of them got in to government, and got what they wanted, ( and remember the Greens wielded that kind of power last time around) ,would put Ireland back to being a 3rd world country, like we were before our participation in the EU.
@Conor O Keeffe: What party or independents would you bite then, and why?
@David Cotter: get a life, it’s a democracy
@Vincent Alexander: is this the same country that you are sending bus loads of people every week so they are getting a eye operation that saves their sight because your govt can’t do it for them ??
By the way the north is Irish not a foreign country , bootlicker
@Temp Stuff: They don’t see any point to it.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: wash the brown of the fact U just pull out of Ur mehole
@Michele Milne: typical Gen X, blame somebody else, the old people lol
@David Cotter: people of a certain age vote ffg no matter what happens
Lazy
@Green Masquerader: clown
Now that ff and fg have basically joined up we are never getting an alternative government are we?
@Brian Dunne: It depends if the likes of labour go back to their true values
@Brian Dunne: yeah but it’s going to take another generation
@Shaun Gallagher: liebours true value’s? Dick spring, ruairi Quinn, pat rabbit, Gilmore, Burton, champagne socialists, WHENEVER did they represent ordinary people, the answer is never!
@Brian Dunne: it’s like China.
@Brian Dunne: we can Brian,if a credable alternative ever emerges.
@Brian Dunne: Don’t forget Michael O’Leary the Labour Party leader who left Labour to join Fine Gael.
In my lifetime, Labour has always actually been a right wing party masquerading as a left win one.
@Brian Dunne: Nationalists totally flopped major swing to the left of Sinn Fein can form a government
@Shaun Gallagher: labour? Are you joking ,they were always riding on the coat tails of other parties
If McEntee and O’Gorman get back in, I’m outta here.
@Dan Murphy: This is very good. They have the job to finish – to open Thornton Hall asylum center! People of Ireland voted for!
@Sergej Simonov: when dafuq did we vote to fill Thornton hall with lepers?
When we laugh at the brits or yanks voting ever again, please remember this country just says hold my potatoes and lube me up and repeatedly votes in the same mob who are responsible for the country being handed over to the IMF, paying back debts that wasnt ours, health, transport and housing an expensive disaster…..and lets not even talk about the complete carnage with immigration
Ya I always thought murica voters were bad believing the nonsense and electing the same useless mob, but Ireland just went one better
@Dave G Doe: All the youth need to leave this undemocratic kip and never return .banana Republic FF and Fg will rule forever no point in elections
@Patrick Newell: we are the thickest race of people in the world! The sheep forgot about the bike shelter, security hut, children’s hospital, etc., Etc, unintelligent phucks
@Conor O Keeffe: did you vote????
@Conor O Keeffe: how is it u democratic?
@Conor O Keeffe: Undemocratic? Grow the fk up.
@Conor O Keeffe: How do you make out it is undemocratic? You need to learn how democracies work for a start.
@sean weir: yeah I voted .and I voted for change . I can’t understand how they got back in . everyday going to work I’m walking past human beings sleeping on cardboard in doorways . I now know that we don’t care about these people they are not human in the eyes of the Irish people .we don’t even protest against the plight of these misfortune people .I’m so ashamed of my people for voting that shower back in . I’m renting and I’m terrified I could end up like them as rents are out of control . And latestest figures show homeless is on the rise .anyone renting is in big trouble after this election if them 2 form a government which they will
@Conor O Keeffe: just because the majority didn’t vote as you did, does not make it an undemocratic process. You have to remember that those topping the polls have proven themselves to their constituents. Look at Lowry in Tipperary and the Healy-Raes in Kerry, independent candidates that may not have much influence, but have proven themselves. Now look at how the Greens have nearly been wiped out because of the policies they brought in.
@Johnny Wilson: FG and FF all they have to do is join forces and nobody can get in . Second time this has happened . We should just stop doing elections waste of tax payers money .we know the result just like the Russians and the Chinese do . They will rule for another hundred years . I ask a friend why he didn’t vote he said Theyl just join forces again so what’s the point in voting.every knew they’d get in absolute joke of a country and a stupid people . I won’t be voting again don’t believe in Irish democracy any more
More off the same the people had the power to change the government but they didn’t.no guts and no balls afraid of change.thats Irish people for you
@Glen Kelly: maybe they’re happy!?
@Glen Kelly: Irish people are smarter than the media meddlers that are bored with stability and prosperity. The chaos and poverty of failed states politics is more exciting to fill newsprint. They want 100 years of turmoil to replace the 100 years of hard won progress. They won’t get it.
@thomas molloy: agree, bad news sells.
@Temp Stuff: there just selfish care about nobody but them self .no guts no bottle
@Glen Kelly: are you one of these people that thinks everyone should agree with what you think? People vote the way they want to not the way you want them to
@Glen Kelly: If your life is going well and your family and friends are in good jobs, have homes etc then why would they want to risk that? There is a silent majority who don’t spend their time on the journal who are happy in life. It’s not about a lack of guts or bottle. I know some people can’t understand that as they believe everyone should be thinking the same as they do.
@Michael o Dwye wake up and smell the coffee you
@Glen Kelly: I didn’t even say who I voted for. Some people obviously quite a lot of people are happy with the way they are so that’s the way it is
@Glen Kelly: I didn’t even say who I voted for. Some people obviously quite a lot of people are happy with the way they are so that’s the way the vote is going
@Glen Kelly: Willie O’Dea and Patrick O’Donovan in Limerick,just saw O’Donovan on the TV surrounded by his supporters,not one of them under 70 ,our country is completely fecked mainly due to empathy and such a low turn out
@thomas molloy: let me guess,you are a retired ex public servant ???
@sean weir: it’s shameful such a low turn out .I’ll never vote again what’s the point .it’s the same government all time no change never has and never will .
Too many TD’s, 174 is way too many. We need reform of the numbers & to get rid of the Seanad & Presidency, too many leaching off the teat of the Taxpayer & yes I did vote to get rid of the Seanad previously. We have elected people in the past who even went on holidays during the Election ! We need more accountability from politicians & instead of appointing more TD’s, they should increase the number of Ministers, to give priority to certain areas, such as Disabilities, Carers etc. If Ireland & all its political class don’t reform & change, implement transparency, be accountable & stop the Spin, the people are going to change it for them.
Its absolutely amazing that the people have rejected SF its time for Mary Lou to step down she is doing nothing for them. Well do me the majority of Ireland rejecting SF hate.
It’s like in the UK, all the pensioners voted for Labour, who promptly cut their winter fuel allowance,
Am I missing something here, a few weeks ago the 10 year old chicken choking bots on here said the shinners would barely get any votes and FFG would run away with it
Now this morning it’s oh ya they still did bad even though they got the same as FF6. Did they do badly or is it a case even if they do good it’s still bad in the eyes of the FFG cultists
@Cst2eu: they have been the main opposition party for the last five years, but according to the exit poll their vote share has fallen, and lord knows, there are plenty of reasons not to vote for the outgoing government
@Cst2eu: what’s a chicken choking bot?
@JoeJoe Kilbride: it means they’re anchors with a W in front of it.
It appears that my fellow irsh citizens are still terrified off change , go on explain how much as a frightened daddy you are to your children,
@Robert Halvey: very sexist comment, why haven’t you included the mothers who are afraid of change?.
@Robert Halvey: define change? It would appear the majority of people in Ireland are satisfied enough to vote for whom they believe are best suited to running the country. An uncomfortable truth to some
@Ger Whelan: Very sexist comment why haven’t you included LGBTQRSTUVWXYZ?
@Dr Strangerly: if they have children not mothers or fathers regardless of their sexual preferences?
@Temp Stuff: you do realize that in 1916 the majority of Irish people were ok with the British govt telling them what to do .
The serf mentality Michael Collins called it
@Temp Stuff: 40% not a majority and the combination of FFFG is melting away
More of the same then…..roll out the weasels
Once the shinners, pbp, the paytriots, and Aontu are kept out, then it’s a good result. Well done to all who voted for any party.
Sickens me that Harris looks like likely to retain his seat. No consequences for his behaviour or attitude during this campaign or his time in government.
@Macho Movie Man: even more sickening is Hutch likely to take a seat
@Macho Movie Man: there was never any danger of his losing his seat.
@JoeJoe Kilbride: sure he will be in good company,
Plenty of crooks there already
@sean weir: Lowry and his nephew. greedy and horrible sheeple
It’s called control of the media narrative. It’s called party politics.
It’s called refusal to listen to the voices of the people and spit out lies and inaccuracies in order to remain in power.
Above all, it’s called democracy.
@Dr Strangerly: how is it refusal to listen to the voices of the people, when it is the people who have the vote? It’s alternative are monarchy and dictatorships.
Yep, it’s likely FF to leap frog back in.. (I’d much rather see a radical change, too, like alot of you on here).
Go back to bed Ireland, your same ole government has it(€25bn budget surplus but we can find more ways to hoodwink you- the tax dozy payer) under control. Nothing to see here, move on. Business as usual…
Friends of FF in leafy suburbs with 2x 80k cars in driveway, non existent energy bills etc, tell your child minder, gardener, milkman, window washer… to work harder! Govt. purse doesn’t fill itself.
@wwvCLOuF: Plenty of middle-class, lefty academic boffins in SF. Harris is more working class than most of them.
@wwvCLOuF: so in your imagination FF is a rich man’s party living in a leafy suburb U should get out more & clear your head that could not be further from the truth
What a pathetic state of affairs. Ireland has effectively become a one party state with FFFG happy to lie in bed with each other. Anyone who has the wherewithal to emigrate should do so immediately. The sheep are happy with the status quo!!
@Mike Dunne: off you go, nobody’s stopping you
@Mike Dunne: sheep? Maybe what you call sheep are happy with the way everything is going for them. Not everyone does or ever will share your opinion. I didn’t vote ffg before you call me a sheep
@Mike Dunne: Who is your shepherd?
So it’s FF and FG again with maybe Labour and/or Greens. No big change. SF bots before ye melt down ask yourselves why your vote regularly can’t be arsed to get out for 20 minutes once approx every 5 years to actually vote? If people don’t vote they really can’t complain things don’t change
@FoxyBoiiYT: We used to have empires run by emperors, then we had kingdoms run by kings. Now we have countries run by…..
@Frank McLynn:
@Frank McLynn: muppets
@Frank McLynn: The People
@Frank McLynn: ….various forms of government’s, which will including, kings, emperors, dictators, presidents and parliments
Think it’s time now to emigrate can’t take another 5 years of misery
@Conor O Keeffe: Ir get off the Journal and enjoy life. Loads of jobs here if you want to work though
@J B: sounds like she went to the other side of the world to get away from you and now you’re going to follow her?
@Conor O Keeffe: Bye another scrounger gone
@Sean Hayes: The youth are better off leaving I for one I give up .lived in Germany should of never came back this country is a joke I wish I wasn’t Irish . So ashamed of the people here same crap every election.im so depressed thinking of the next 5 years omg
@Trump24: I pay 170 tax a week .you live off my tax you parasite
@J B: Thanks
@Conor O Keeffe: he’s to be pitied. MUTE & REPORT it.
Never argue with a f00l, people will see you as the same.
@wwvCLOuF: thanks for that
Bread & Butter issues, time to start listening & acting on them. Rein in Energy companies, Supermarkets, Insurance companies, allow easier planning, build houses & operate a proper Immigration policy & you win over the people. Failure to do so & you will have Kanturk reactions every day.
Greens look likey for a 75% LOSS of seats…… the pontificating, condescending arrogance that more TAXES were the answer to everything coming home to roost thankfully
@Frank Mc Carthy: hardly the most important thing. Carbon taxes are going nowhere.
@Frank Mc Carthy: Greens paying the price for their Arrogance. Catherine Martin & her abysmal handling of RTE & then rewarding them. Eamon Ryan putting Data Centers & Energy company profits before people, ROG’s pull factor tweet, Immigration mess & destroying our Tourism industry & his pathetic performance as Minister for Children & Mother & Baby Homes, Ossian Smyth’s rewarding of the Drinks Industry to enrich themselves & makeus take our bottles out of our Recycling bins & put them in the Drinks Industry’s ATM’s. ROG has to be the worst Minister to have ever held office in Ireland & caused so much damage & division, glad to see the ahole go. Greens were a shower of Hypocrites, who have put the Green agenda back decades in Ireland. Today they are blaming Hate for their failures, lol.
@SV3tN8M4: if they’re looking for a ‘whipping boy’….I’ve a big mirror they can borrow…….. what’s mad is Catherine Martin ‘might’ actually get through for a ( lonesome) seat on gravy train
@Dermot Blaine: yes,i but they could have been suspended and delayed in light of the cost of living crisis, and that never even crossed the minds behind the Green Party. The Greens have become so fanatical about the enviroment that they are putting it so far ahead of people that they would put us into poverty. Even the DRS scheme has basically become a tax. I have learned of several families that have gone back to putting the DRS items back into their recycle bins for various reasons, from no place to keep them to no way to get them back to the retailers and so on, forfeiting the deposits.
@SV3tN8M4: just watching Eamon Ryan on RTE being interviewed and he is claiming they helped protect people in the cost of living crisis, and the effects of the War in Ukraine and several more ludicrous claims. Sorry to all the Green supporters, but the man is definatly not living in the same world as the rest of us.
It’s tough times, but all these people on here calling Ireland a kip and the like are a joke. I left Ireland 15 years ago and moved to Australia, due to recession/no prospects, etc. But I never forget where I came from, I understand times are hard because I went through it in GFC, but the thing that has made me successful in Australia is remembering the great country that I grew up in – Ireland. It has culture, history, passion and pride like no other, that’s what makes us proud to be Irish. The political situation at the moment is poor and people have the right to complain and take action, that’s the only way to improve. But don’t call
Ireland a kip,when you emigrate you realise the country you emigrate to usually has better prospects, but it can never compare to the pride of being Irish
@: “the political situation is poor”, no it’s not too bad actually but what is poor is our planning and legal systems. Governments are hand tied to build anything because of vested interests and nimbi’s. Ireland needs infrastructure very badly but it’s aloof. One of the least population density in EU and we can’t build anything anywhere
@: unfortunately it is a kip now, no morals in government at all,like the mafia running the placeas, but as long as someone is making a few bob out of it, they don’t give a phuck! You should be grateful that you have made a life for yourself in Australia. It is not the Ireland of before, that you could be proud of. Putting profits and big business before the health and well being of the people. Paying over the odds for everything here, and the worst thing is we are just accepting it! Sickening. So be happy, you are very fortunate where you are. Raise your family with good morals and honesty where you are and be glad you are away
@: the pride of being Irish me h*** people from parish pump areas back the same parish orientated cute hoors and keep the country stifling in mediocrity and the past. You’ve left because Its no country for young or old wo(men) and the country especially rurally is so ignorant in the way it discourages new information. Allows for little to change and cute hoors to thrive. Id leave in the morning but would have a lot to figure out especially the job this country has done on my mental health. Because of which I can speak with specific authority to remind you that FG FFs public services arent fit for purpose.
@den: far from a kip take a look across the water & many other countries before u spout nonsense
This country is a joke totally screwed . Homelessness, healthcare, high rents , never be able to by a house .every Irish person paying back thousands in debt due to the bail out .what a kip this is .
Jerry Hutch is doing a Donald Trump in Dublin
@Helena Camella Cummins: Be great if he wins Mary Lous seat one gangster replacing another
@Trump24: if you think kèeping the monk out of jail is a good idea I despair. Just in case….I do no vote SF
It seems people have not learned lessons from the past and fell for the same promises trotted out once again. It’s democracy. Let’s hope we don’t regret it (like the uk with brexit and labour austerity) and that ff/fg might actually fulfil their promises. I live in hope but not much.
@Spanner: Labour austerity? You’re confusing parties there, the Tories literally sucked the country dry
@Spanner: Tory in UK for 14 years , Labour in for less than a year
Stephen Donnelly looks like he could be a hospital case, well if that’s going to happen !!
Pretty sad stuff that people continue to vote for the same old stale establishment politics of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil which have trashed this country. Are 40% of this country really just plain sadists? Do they enjoy the high taxes, the high crime, the big bureaucratic government, the inefficient HSE and the wacky environmental policies like “Net Zero” and the carbon tax? The most disappointing statistic is that the Social Democrats got nearly 6% of the vote. The Social Democrats are a radical far-left party who have identical policies to PBP. The only difference is that they mask their radical nature because Holly Cairns doesn’t shout her head off like Rich Boy Barrett and instead soothes people under the guise of “compassion” into voting for a “kinder” PBP.
@Frank O’Hara: So, Frank. Who did you feel was worthy of your vote?
@Minnie Mouse: I gave my number 1 vote to Alan Shatter and I ranked no one else. All the other options in my constituency weren’t up to standard. Shatter was the only candidate who bothered to personally reach out to me by email to give my a layout of his policy positions. He wants to abolish inheritance and property taxes, he wants to privatise some of the HSE and cut administrative staff by 15%, he wants to scrap rent control and price controls on childcare, he wants to double the number of Garda officers on the street, he wants to scrap the “Net Zero” targets and the carbon tax and he strongly supports Israel and Ukraine. He’s the only person with common sense right-wing policies and I was proud to give him my vote yesterday.
I really don’t care about any of these stale turds, so instead, I wish everyone a happy and great weekend! :)
@Daniel Skelton: and to you sir, well said.
Record figures for homelessness buried on Election Day and Darragh O’Brien is topping the poll in his constituency. What is wrong with people?!
@Claire Greaney: Maybe most people have homes!
@Claire Greaney: 14,966 homeless,up 200 from last month, people don’t give a toss, I’m alright jack feck you is definitely a Irish trend
@Sean Hayes: most people in Ireland do not own homes. 54% of younger people live with Mum and dad. Unfortunately, apparently half of them didnt bother to vote.
@Claire Greaney: he has put in over a decade of hard work for his constituency, that why he got such a large number of first preferences, more so than his term as minister for housing, which everyone knows is a hospital pass (pardon the pun).
It’s a disaster if same pilots wins, mayday call for past 40 years is enough!
Irish needs new plane or change the plan.
To judge from last night’s comments there are a lot of people out there who don’t fully understand how PRSTV works, or maybe they’re just hoping for the best. For them, and others, here’s a little explainer.
The number of seats a party wins is close to its share of first preference votes. Larger parties tend to get a bonus, on average FF and FG have won 6-7% more seats than their share of the vote – so they would get perhaps 22% of the seats with 20% of first preferences on a good day.
The most important determinant of who wins seats in each constituency is the number of first preferences. About 90% of seats go to the candidates who finish in the first 3 places in 3-seaters, in the first 4 places in 4-seaters, in the
@lesidees: ..first 5 places in 5 seaters.
Transfers are less influential than we sometimes think. They mostly serve to confirm the results of the first count. That’s because most votes never get transferred: in 2020, for example, there were nearly 2.2 million votes (first preferences) cast. The total number of transfers, including second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth…. preferences, was not much more than one-third of this, at 0.8 million.
Why are most votes not transferred? Because most votes go to the successful candidates, and most of their votes are never transferred – most surpluses are a quite small percentage of the quota.
I hope that helps
Hilarious the SF paid propaganda team made up of Michale Kane and FG’s Rental Trap are nowhere to be found today. Looks like the stand down order from the Army Council came through.
@Trump24: FG’s Rental Trap is probably burnt out or tallying, he was on night & day in the weeks prior to election, between himself the Doe family & the Brendan/Kevin spin dept, ordinary voices were been drowned out, which is how they all operate online, their mantra is “control the narrative”. Ironically, people were looking for alternatives, but the likes of FG’s Rental Trap actually turned people off, especially when the mask slipped every now & then.
People don’t vote for change. People change and then vote. For the 3 weeks of campaigning posters here on The Journal were exchanging childish insults. And now that voting has taken place and the counting has begun they are STILL trading insults. They haven’t changed. And then they are surprised when others haven’t changed. And start insulting them again. It’s a funny old world.
Shame on everyone who helped Darragh o brien easily get elected again. It was insulting in 2020 now it is completely and utterly a sign of a demoralised, in some cases very blinkered and in others callous electorate.
If there is any positive to take from this it’s the hope that the mup@@t Donnelly loses his seat.
@Andrew Kenny: a vile turncoat for sure. Sad that he lasted this long humpty dumpty
Can someone explain to me why they have voted for FFG? After everything you’ve seen in the past 4 years, how did you decide that you’re gonna vote for them in again?
@Gavin Lynam: Economy is booming so much money to be made if you want it.
@Gavin Lynam: if u need to be told Its u that has the problem
Whoever voted for FFG clearly has plenty of money and a house sorted and so have their children. Same old nonsense from the same old fogies.
Gwan da hutch
A lot of movers and shakers now, SF went to the people and showed to be the most stand alone poplar party.
@Phillip Smyth: I didn’t know they’re tree huggers.
@Phillip Smyth: popular
@Pat Barry: nothing like hugging a tree try it bud, grounds yeh.
It back to the same old same old More bike sheds on the way. I once got offended when people said the stupid Irish.not any more
@raymond callaghan: and we all slagged of the Brits and the yanks lol
Michael Martin topping the poll. Well done. As for exit polls ….. That was pure bull
Yerra
@Dave G Doe
Yes, your wife, Lol.
The Greens? Get oya dat and Take You’re Taxes With Ya!!!
C’mon Journal, less of the feckin wokeism When you are referring to a candidate, can please refrain from this wokeism bullshit,eg, “their” votes will now be distributed when you know fcuking well whether the candidate is a ‘he’ or a ‘she’. Is it any wonder the fecking country is gone down the pan!
How!?
Can we get an update on South Wicklow/Wexford please. We exist too you know.
With the collapse of the Green Party again, there is a need now for a new Socialist Green Party
@RIP: ROFLMAO! Reminds me of a certain Monthy Python Scene in the Life of Brian! I’ve a fiend his name is Biggus Dickis.
The journal still talking exit poll which is so out of touch
Pizzas look a bit greasy, lads. Have yiz not heard of Bambino’s?
The comment section is manky.
Labour offering to form a negotiating block with the SD is like offering someone the kiss of death! I’m sure the SD have their heads screwed on to not get involved with Labour. Never forget their time in government. They made An Bord Snip look like a giveaway
Rofl at the dog kicking creche creeper getting only one vote in Newtownmountkennedy. Wonder who gave him that?
The Greens are gone. The poison chalice of being the support party for the government. It happens every time. They throw them under the bus to retain power. That’s what our political system creates. And we just lean into it. It’s actually not any particular party/leaders fault, just the nature of the beast. Cynical and depressing at the same time.
Love the Fr Ted reference on the T-shirt.
I’ve just heard Ben Gilroy’s name called out in two constituencies. Meath West and Fingal West. Did he pull a fly one?
@Philip Gallagher: To lose one deposit may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness.
Delighted.
@honey badger: it’s a bit odd if you ask me. First time I’ve ever heard of it. Running in two constituencies. Is it even allowed? I wonder which count center he went to lol
@Philip Gallagher: 3 constituencies.
have your say