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THE AMOUNT OF time spent browsing the internet is the fastest growing area of difficulty for Irish couples, according to marriage care service Accord.
Texting on mobile phones is also seen as a problem in many relationships, with 28 per cent of those in counselling citing it as an issue.
The revelations come as Accord releases its data for 2011, a 12-month period which saw a 12 per cent increase in demand for its counselling services.
During the year, the Catholic organisation delivered 49,000 counselling sessions. Of those, a large majority (65 per cent) were experiencing financial difficulties.
Irish families remain under intense pressure because of unemployment, mortgage difficulties, negative equity, increased taxation and rising fuel costs, according to Accord.
Separately, about 7,000 couples attended marriage preparation courses.
Domestic Violence counselling remains a priority for the group and a new programme for working with perpetrators and victims is also complete.
This initiative will form the basis for the selection and training of new domestic violence counsellors and ongoing training for current domestic violence counsellors.
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I’d approve of mandatory voting if the top of every ballot had ‘None of the below’. If that got the most votes then nobody on that ballot can run again in that election cycle.
@Don’t Forget: love this idea
@Don’t Forget: that is a terrible idea with the irish system.
Let’s say ‘none of the above got 15%’ and poll topper was on 14%, 2nd 13%, 3rd 12% as there were 24 candidates, it really would seem a horrible idea to disenfranchise 85% of the electorate (and say their preferred candidate can not run again) because of a whim of 15% of the electorate
@Emily Dalton: You could allow it to have transfers too as if its another candidate.
Or have a much higher threshold. If 30 or 40% of people have NOTB first choice then that would be much more acceptable.
Or have the ability to recall TDs.
@Don’t Forget:
Recall doesn’t work in pr system. Candidates get elected with between 17% (5 seater) and 25% of the vote (3 seater) so allowing a general recall (like in cafirnoia) would nor work and could be abused as a way of suppressing opposition and minority voices.
On the other hand, recall if person had a criminal conviction while in office would work (akin to the uk, although in ireland i think seat is vacated if an elected individual is sentenced to prison for term over 6 months).
Any recall suggestion would need very specific examples in the legislation for it, otherwise it would be very open to abuse so would need to be careful with it.
.
@Furious George – The Wasp:
Furious George, enraged by the dying of his own light, was inconsolable. If I feel pain, then others must too. After his Metalcore band failed to sell on Bandcamp (even after changing the album to ‘pay what you want’), he lashed out in the only way he knew how. He stung and venomed all in sight, all of the day and all of the night. Growing tired he took a break. He opened up the Journal app on his stinger ringer, and lo and behold, an idea about mandatory voting, finally brought a smile to his little face! Furious George was less furious and hope was restored! He may soon be fading out of sight, but the hope of electoral reform cast a little light!
Furious George, the politically engaged wasp – a beacon of hope in these dark times :)
@Emily Dalton: You’re expecting me to come up with complex legal reform and equations when we’re all commenting a few sentences on an article. Take it for what it was. What is wrong with you? Lmao
@Emily Dalton: that is basically what is happening now
@Don’t Forget: Did you miss this bit
“A ‘blank vote’ option is on the ballots in Brazil, and deciding to spoil your ballot could continue to serve as a valid protest.”, or did you read the beginning of the article. Everyone knows they can spoil their vote, write an essay on it why you’re not voting, leaving it blank or drawing a line across the ballot paper, or putting a 0 in every box. The amount of people who turned out on the streets in 2016 to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the rising and 100 years on from the war of independence. Yet people choose to forget the fact that approx 1000 people died so they could have the right to vote and now they’re throwing their deaths back in their faces.
Gang of hypocrites.
@Don’t Forget: if none of the others got elected then it takes a seat
We need to first know what the CORRECT voter turnout is ! We need to get the register correct first. I’ve worked in Polling Stations and the register by my estimates has AT LEAST 12% additional incorrect voters.
@John Nolan: Did you do an analysis, John? If you did send it to the local authorities who don’t even have compatible software . How difficult can it be for them a spreadsheet, maybe a couple would easily be written and the data corrected.
@John Nolan: the chairman of the electoral commission says that it will be many years before a central database will be fully operational and effective. Why so ? A central system with details based on PPS, Eircode and date of birth could be implemented. That’s what is underway now, the problem is that it’s administered locally …rather than centrally. The biggest problem is that the will to reform isn’t there, certainly not in FF or FG.
@John Manahan: Bring in a national Identity card.
@Me Me: No thank you.
The last thing we need is any move to a Gestapo-like society.
These suggestions would be great in a functioning democracy but unfortunately the demographics it’d benefit wouldn’t suit FF/FG so nothing will change.
@Rochelle Hart: Obviously, if 40% of people are lazy moaner like you, nothing will change.
The hard part would be convincing the government to reform the way we vote. They got into power with the system as it is, so why would they want to change anything ?
Given the election results I’m convinced an IQ test should be mandatory in order to vote.
@Matt D: You will probably find yourself close to Forest Gump IQ.
@Matt D: The result would be less votes for SF irrespective of the thumbs up they get on The Journal.
It should be compulsory to vote for FG and FF
@Fintan Pox: there’s no need, they just buy your vote.
It’s disappointing to see the Commission (wish they would explain in plain English who they are) don’t know the real percentage of turnout at the recent election.
If you don’t vote, FF/FG automatically get your vote. Now that their all pal’s, why even bother having elections.
@Michael Cummins: Explains.
Long term Irish in Oz here. I was against compulsory voting but I now think it is a good idea. It means that politicians have to consider all adults not just the likely voters. Australia also makes it easy to vote with postal voting, early voting , voting on Saturdays, and voting while overseas. Of course, the current Irish system suits the incumbents. Multi-seat constituencies in Ireland are much begetter than the Aussie single MP constituencies. Single seat constituencies means some seats are safe – always won by the same party, like in Britain.
This narrative is becoming ubiquitous, all these branches of the State propaganda system telling us that the government cannot be criticised because, allegedly, not enough people turned out to vote.
Under this bogus argument, no blame can be laid at the door of government policies for anything from now on, a sort of pre-emptive pardon for the consequences of the policies of the last government and the decisions they will make in the next, and should anyone disagree, you can be sure the Journal, Pat Kenny, the Irish Times and RTE, will be out of the blocks in double quick time to castigate the offender for such appalling wrongthink.
We’ll see how they get on.
@Garry Coll: But nobody is telling us that the government cannot be criticised because, allegedly, not enough people turned out to vote.
@Brendan O’Brien:
For the State propaganda outlets in the months ahead, if you want to level criticism at the government or it’s policies, you will have to prove you voted.
Yes.
I tried to register two or three times online. MyGov didn’t work (having worked fine for other business in the previous month) and the normal voting register wouldn’t recognise my new postcode OR address. I wasn’t going off and find a printer, fill out a form, call to a Garda station, get it stamped, drop into a post office and send it off just to vote . . .
I have decided never to vote again, they can shove it Imagine electing the likes of Coppinger and Murphy, no thanks.
@Dan Murphy: isn’t that a good reason for voting against them?
@Dan Murphy: No wonder the average IQ of Irish people is lower than its neighbours with someone like you.
@Alex: pot meet kettle
Maybe because the other 45% have completely given up and no longer care. The inevitable decline in safety, buying power and social cohesion is collapsing every day. Soon we will be like the UK or France and there is no stopping it from happening. Why even bother voting when the civil servants and EU make all the decisions worth mentioning in the first place. We have a social left wing government currently, and economically centrist. Then the biggest opposition, is an even further left wing government. Wow, what a choice we have. The country is completely demoralised. Forget it.
@Maximilian Kolbe: Ireland is actually ranked as a very safe country. Low homicide rate and the same with petty crime. I know it can feel dangerous as every incident gets extensive and dramatic coverage. But for the most part we actually live in a very safe country.
The entire planet is experiencing a whole host of challenges from energy to the fallout from the various wars. Don’t get me wrong there’s so much that needs improving but sometimes it’s easy to miss just how many things are going pretty well. There are many countries who would happily swap places.
Housing is the biggie. Sort that and so many tensions fall away. I’m not sure what a more right wing government would do to sort this. It’s the neoliberal, open to all policy that’s taken us to a place where housing is often exploited by international actors who proceed to gouge obscene prices out of the Irish people. If a more left wing government decided to tackle this – you can be guaranteed the same people complaining about the situation would start shouting ‘communist’.
There’s a lot of work to do but I don’t see how we are going to end up like the UK or France. Both are ex-colonial powers with a completely different social dynamic. The UK is still running a feudal system in so many ways.
Immigration is causing tension in some quarters for sure, but there’s a lot of benefits that get missed in the hysteria. Our health system would be a complete disaster without it for starters. Immigration is not the overarching problem. It’s housing.
@SerotoninWars: the rates are going up exponentially every year. I wonder why. Housing crisis is from a shortage of houses, but let’s keep importing IT and retail workers, while the Polish and Romanians construction workers go back home due to high cost of living.
@Maximilian Kolbe: You need to check what ‘exponentially’ means.
@Maximilian Kolbe: We need IT workers. Do you really want to see those companies struggle and move elsewhere from a lack of staff, considering the huge amount of money they bring into the country via wages and taxes?
We have a housing supply issue for sure but it’s not as simple as close the doors and everything is sorted. It’s much more complicated than that. There’s a huge number of people from abroad working in construction. We need them (just like healthcare) to make up the shortage. I fully get how urgent the housing situation is but I don’t think it’s a simple solution of getting rid of the immigrants. It’s far more nuanced. A ban on international vultures bulk buying our housing stock, as an investment to be bled to the absolute max, is a better place to start.
@SerotoninWars: well said, I agree with that. My second point was the ratio of construction workers among immigrants is far too low. We will never catch up at the rate. I work in the industry, every contractor is flat out. Everyone is looking for workers but can’t get them. What is the use having this tax money that you said we get from IT workers when we can’t even put it to building houses, as there is nobody to build them. (At the rate needed). These IT workers need a place to live too, they get up every morning and put in a shift, but they are unable just like the rest of the population to find affordable rent/house price.
@Maximilian Kolbe: No question – housing is the biggest challenge facing us in the short to medium term. If we can sort housing it would cool the temperature on so many other issues.
I know it’s a dirty word for many but housing is one area where a more socialist approach would benefit so many. The problem is that we’ve ended up in a housing as investment/nest egg scenario, on top of the other supply issues. There’s a considerable number of people who don’t want to see their extra income or retirement kitty devalued. So we get the same government again.
Do you think something drastic like focusing on housing for construction workers would help? I know it would be deeply unpopular but maybe some pain in the short term and thinking outside the box now, would lead to a much better outcome for all in the years ahead?
@Maximilian Kolbe: construction workers go back home due to the fact that the industry was on its arse 2009/2010.
If they had no work why would they stay ,if the work is there they will come back
@SerotoninWars:
You are right! A good starting point would be to renovate all the derelict buildings in towns and cities. I have had reason to be in Dublin City on many occasions this year and I’m shocked by the amount of dereliction in Dublin inner city area. Apart from being a complete waste, it looks terrible and makes our capital city look unkempt and neglected.
@Costigan Family: Agreed! I had a quick look and there’s also a lot of ghost estates in the country still. I know these things are usually more complex than they appear but surely more can be done with them? I’m not an expert but it feels like some innovative thinking and a bit of drastic outside-the-box approaches could really help to move things along here.
@SerotoninWars: We have enough houses and building. But you should have laws like in France or specific localities like Paris to have a mandatory upkeep of the building or it is taken over by the council (not sold, just preempted) to be used as social housing.
@Alex: Agreed. Letting buildings go to rack and ruin, with the main consideration being a later squeeze of further profit, is such a waste. House people or make rich people richer? I know which one I’d pick.
@sean weir: the work is there. Unemployment levels are at the lowest in the history of the state. Some workers are coming, while the Irish workers are leaving for Australia. The rates are good, €22-€25 for a labourer an hour, go to a building site in Dublin and you will see Romanian/Georgian teenagers doing these jobs. They will come here, live in a house of 6/7, save money and go back home, which is completely fine. The Irish though like to live and beer and have a nice car etc. They want to live a lot different of a lifestyle than these foreigners who are here temporary. The problem with that is they are not making enough money to do it, so they’re moving to Australia, leaving us with a shortage. If that’s what they want to do then let fine, but we’re bearing the burden of lack of labour
@SerotoninWars: I mean yeah it’s true, it’s a tough one. It’s not a simple solution to house workers by the state so they can just build build build. If you look at the FIFO model in Australia, these mega construction/mining companies pay for the workers accommodation, food and transport to site. These companies are making so much money on these mines that it doesn’t matter to them paying for accommodation. I don’t think the state would do something like this, although it would definitely incite young workers to stay and work here. Imagine not having to pay 600-900 a month on a room, and instead your only costs being transport and food. It would be great. Maybe something similar to FIFO type accommodation, where it’s just small 1 bed cabins. Short/medium term I think workers wouldn’t mind
@Maximilian Kolbe: Yes, it’s a tough one. I was only thinking about it in terms of the drastic action needed. Where there’s a will etc. I would have thought the public would be somewhat understanding that some big and unusual decisions need to be made to sort the housing situation out. There’s no point pretending there’s a quick-fix solution. If it was explained that some medicine needs to be swallowed and that people here to help might need to be given a major helping hand to sort out the housing problem in the longer term, maybe this kind of honesty and dose of reality would be acceptable. It’s not unusual for countries to offer incentives when there is a dire need in a specific area. It’s highly unlikely to happen anyway – just thinking out loud!
If nobody voted then they have no consent and then you’ll see real change, not the fake promises of habitual lying sociopaths.
@Dere: if nobody voted, there would still be a few going to the polling stations, and they would decide for everyone else.
Then the politicians would lecture us saying we don’t understand democracy, or we don’t understand their promises, etc. and they would still blame us for their failure to govern properly.
Being the devil’s advocate here, but I fear we would not win doing that…
Yes. You should be fined for not voting. And if you fail to vote in three elections in a row, you should lose your entitlement to vote in any election / referendum.
@AnthonyK: would suit lots of non-voters. I’d favour community service for them. At least they’d make up for ignoring the elections.
What’s the point? the same two parties will always be in control, even when Sinn Fein get a large vote the other two refuse to work with them, so democracy is effectively dead. I am not a Sinn Fein voter, but I can understand the apathy, when whatever way you vote you get left with pretty much the same outcome.
What about making public transport free on polling day to remove the financial barrier of going to vote?
Yes. It would be a great development.
Though its introduction would be strongly opposed by the bigger parties as they would have the most to lose. So it will not happen.
Not voting is a vote FOR the status quo. Not voting is a passive vote in favour of the current situation.
So why would the current incumbents want that to change? It would be akin to “turkeys voting for Christmas”
Very good points/ arguement Emma. Straight off the bat I’d say that “compulsory” voting would be counter productive….. Ol’ granny used say ” you can bring a horse to water but you can’t make him drink”. The sub 60% turnout this time was solely down to apathy & I see/ hear that from younger generations
@Kevvy kerrr: this is the worst excuse I hear. If the people under 40 voted in a block they would change the result. Apathy and ignorance are not far from each other. Neither are a reason not to vote. Thousands died for the privilege, which is really a responsibility that should be mandatory
@Furious George – The Wasp: see the “carrot” is always the better road than the “stick”
@Kevvy kerrr: that ol granny of yours was like yourself, a great source for commonly used, worn out clichés wasn’t she?
@Kevvy kerrr: funny, Frank Mc Carthy’s ‘ol granny used to say the exact same thing
@Dermot Blaine: oh, a wise & beautiful lady for sure, raised 14 kids on a widows pension, saw out 2 world wars …….R.I.P. , may perpetual light shine on her gentle soil
@Kevin Kerr: Clearly they share four ol’ grandparents and are in fact one ol’ troll.
I reckon ‘Frank’ was the intended profile. Oops again.
@Kevin Kerr: & my own Wife’s mother, R.I.P., she was another lady with inciteful words of wisdom to live by
@Kevvy kerrr: give it up, you’re fooling nobody
@Kevin Kerr: see , brenny, that’s the clincher…..zero interest in fooling anyone…..exposing multi account trolls I savour, lol
@Brendan O’Brien: My old granny used to say that you get paid €1.25 per post.
@Kevvy kerrr: what stick?
Jesus you would think we are taking about something dangerous we are asking them to do !
15 mins out of your day every 4 years ,if you don’t like anyone on the ballot just spoil the paper .
People won’t vote but they will sit online for 4 hours for concert tickets.
Unbefeckinlievable
@Kevvy kerrr: She didn’t see any world war since the Irish were complete cowards during the 2nd one.
@Alex: Rubbish.
No, and anyway it would not be enforceable, especially with as many as half a million defunct or duplicated names on the register. Focus on cleaning that up before anything else
@Dermot Blaine: I don’t agree,, every ballot should have a box to tick if you wish to exercise your right not to vote, fined if not ticked or voted, you’d soon clean up the register
@Joe Mc Dermott:
How would you fine someone when voting is anonymous?
@Regular John: your vote is anonymous, but not your use of it. Your name is crossed off the list when you “check in” at the polling station
@Kevin Kerr:
Eh… I know that !
But then you go in and spoil your vote. You’ve turned up, checked in and nobody knows if you voted or not.
@Joe Mc Dermott: they would go in & draw Mickey mouse if they were forced to vote
@Regular John: a spoiled vote is a vote
@Kevin Kerr:
Lol… Would ya stop !
No, it should not be compulsory but if you don’t vote, you have no right to complain.
@ecrowley ecrowley: The people who voted are responsible for the outcome. I didn’t vote, so I get to blame all of you :-)
@FlipBip: George Carlin does a a great skit on that topic
@Dere: He was right, too.
We dont need compulsory voting. What we need is an education system that creates a politically aware population. Currently there is no serious thought given to political, economic, philosophical education. What exists is tokenism. Get rid of religion, compulsory irish, english and maths and that might free up time. How you can have an education system that is like something out of the 19th century is beyond me. People happily watch cooking on tv. But who knows how to make a meal. Baffling lol.
@Alan:
Baffling is why you want to get rid of Maths and English from education.
@Regular John: baffling is why you can’t understand the word mandatory
@Alan: you can avoid maths and English in education but do politics economics and philosophy? Riiiight
@Alan:
Pity you can’t understand what you’ve written yourself. LOL
@Alan: You don’t even have mandatory in your comment ye sap ! Haa haa. I’d say you’re embarrassed.
Just offer a double payment
@Martin james: far right would definitely get a few seats then.
Listening to the radio today as many as 500,000 could be on the official register who should not be there. Deaths,emigration or moving house are reasons for this discretion.Surely the register needs to be sorted before you can say only 60% of the register voted.
A huge amount of people have almost zero knowledge about politics, any of the people involved or decisions made. I’m not sure how you change that.
If compulsory voting was brought in sure Fianna Fail would be in power on their own. The anti everything brigade would get a right shock.
Alf stewart and flathead chasing people into the count centres calling them flamin galaas etc.
@Setanta O’Toole: “We didn’t come down with the last shower ya know!”
Not voting or spoiling a ballot should be allowed as an individual’s choice.
40% spoiled votes …. Those who don’t vote are probably illiterate anyway!
@Lulu: those who don’t vote can’t find a candidate to represent them. I refuse to vote for a lying politician as that would give them a mandate
The inaccuracy of the electoral register and the disenfranchisement of voters who may be abroad/away temporarily for work or education reasons make any assessment of turnout here inherently flawed. There was an effort over a decade ago to try to update the register and at that time I filled out the forms to have myself taken off the register at my old local election district and added at my new address. The addition worked but the removal didn’t. For one referendum I couldn’t vote because there wasn’t an option to do a postal vote when a business trip clashed with the date. The eligibility criteria for postal votes here are ridiculously narrow for such a small country.
Actually Friday is a bad day for elections anyway because all the dole heads are in the boozers spending their hard earned taxpayer funded welfare
@Brian Molloy: so u must be there with them seeing u know so much
Yes and online voting for those who can’t get out to vote ie the elderly, those on trolleys hospital etc etc one click and it’s done!!
@Joanne Stokes: no way they then have to have someone there with them to use Computer
No.
Yes it should be compulsory. Otherwise the current status quo will never change.
@Andrew Harrington: no way anyone forced would spoil their vote
Mandatory voting is an oxymoron.Voting is the perfect example of having a choice.Forcing someone to vote is a contradiction in terms of choice.
If you miss 3 elections in a row you should be removed from the register
Half a million dead or missing on the list, sure how do you know the real numbers.
Then make dumb people vote.. are you mad.
Comments closed on refugees outside dail. Journal as bought as rte now.
Can’t all the lefties house the illegals that are outside the Dail
It will just end up with people protest voting a load of rubbish and/or deliberately spoiling ballot papers.
No
You cant bring in the Australian system or any system until you update the live register.People have passed on and some people have emigrated.These people are still receiving polling cards.
Compulsion will not make people care or think. It would just cause antagonism.
have your say