Irish Current Affairs.

[mancity2012_eamo]

I'd say Sinn Fein might be in for a drop in their vote. The perception of them being pro-immigration is not shared by a large number of the working class, particularly in the main cities

They usually drop off on polling day.
People that considered them, chicken out of voting for them at the last minute.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

Check this fella out.

Gerard Hutch, the man known as The Monk, wanted to stand for election in Ireland

 

[TonyM]

Tony if you don’t mind can I ask what age category would you fall in to.
I have legacy issues with SF knowing what they still have in the party, yet Mary Lou does make sense to me at times. Not sure I’d trust her or them not to screw me. I just feel they can’t cost or budget for what they promise without hitting the middle class that they consider rich. That’s me.
My son is 22 yo on the other hand and he has no hang ups about voting for them.

My big disappointment with FG and FF is that they were the traditional rivals yet two cheeks of the same arse. What SF offered was a left alternative. Then when SF didn’t get an overall majority FF and FG decided to coalesce just to keep them out.

That is not what people voted for. It was unprecedented and not what was canvassed.
So this time around I’m still deciding what to do.

Early 50s. So born early 70s. I grew up with the troubles on the news and vague stories of tidbits of family involvement before I was born.

I am not a nationalist. I am proud of my culture but wary of flag waving or thinking we are better than anyone else. So I'm not a tradional Sinn Feinner.

Imo SF, FF and FG all have blood on their hands and histories of terrorism so it gauls me when 2 pretend they are without sin.

Imo we are beyond the point where it's productive to dwell on those histories. We need to keep moving forward. So I see SF as legitimate and would have no qualms voting for them. In fact I've not voted for FF or FG since returning to Ireland 15 or so years ago.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

Early 50s. So born early 70s. I grew up with the troubles on the news and vague stories of tidbits of family involvement before I was born.

I am not a nationalist. I am proud of my culture but wary of flag waving or thinking we are better than anyone else. So I'm not a tradional Sinn Feinner.

Imo SF, FF and FG all have blood on their hands and histories of terrorism so it gauls me when 2 pretend they are without sin.

Imo we are beyond the point where it's productive to dwell on those histories. We need to keep moving forward. So I see SF as legitimate and would have no qualms voting for them. In fact I've not voted for FF or FG since returning to Ireland 15 or so years ago.

Yeah, I’m probably around 10 years older and remember the seventies well.
I have other reasons for never voting FF.
Although I do understand some of the reasons for the necessity, I blame De Valera for holding back the country’s progress by marrying us to the Catholic Church. I think my generation were the first that started to not only question this but outright rejected it.
By the time I was eligible to vote, Haughey was my FF choice. That didn’t appeal to me and neither did his idiot son when he took over the baton. Nepotism!

I generally vote on local issues and more recently Independents have a realistic chance of taking a seat.

Regarding the past and nationalism and views of history, my personal take on the GFA is that we down south definitely drew a line under the past. We changed our constitution and backed by a sizeable majority.
I presume it was well backed by the nationalist community up North but also by a decent proportion of of Unionists.
I’m on record in here as stating that some Unionists don’t realise the protection that has been afforded them by the GFA and us down south signed up to this.

Anyway, maybe it is time for me to drop my SF hang ups, but purely from an economic perspective they still don’t convince me that anything other than a United Ireland is where their priorities lie.

 

[IrishBlueSince92]

Yeah, I’m probably around 10 years older and remember the seventies well.
I have other reasons for never voting FF.
Although I do understand some of the reasons for the necessity, I blame De Valera for holding back the country’s progress by marrying us to the Catholic Church. I think my generation were the first that started to not only question this but outright rejected it.
By the time I was eligible to vote, Haughey was my FF choice. That didn’t appeal to me and neither did his idiot son when he took over the baton. Nepotism!

I generally vote on local issues and more recently Independents have a realistic chance of taking a seat.

Regarding the past and nationalism and views of history, my personal take on the GFA is that we down south definitely drew a line under the past. We changed our constitution and backed by a sizeable majority.
I presume it was well backed by the nationalist community up North but also by a decent proportion of of Unionists.
I’m on record in here as stating that some Unionists don’t realise the protection that has been afforded them by the GFA and us down south signed up to this.

Anyway, maybe it is time for me to drop my SF hang ups, but purely from an economic perspective they still don’t convince me that anything other than a United Ireland is where their priorities lie.

I don't think they've ever denied that that is their main aim.

I also don't think its that bad a thing.

 

[IrishBlueSince92]

It'll be the same government again I'd say.
There are a lot of problems in Ireland, despite it being a cash rich country. This isn't flowing down to public services, housing and immigration is causing a lot of unrest it seems.

I dont think the SF vote will be as high as polls are suggesting. They'll take a hit due to their stance on immigration I think.

(I'm no expert as I live in the north but have followed a bit of the lead up to this election)

 

[jimharri]

It'll be the same government again I'd say.
There are a lot of problems in Ireland, despite it being a cash rich country. This isn't flowing down to public services, housing and immigration is causing a lot of unrest it seems.

I dont think the SF vote will be as high as polls are suggesting. They'll take a hit due to their stance on immigration I think.

(I'm no expert as I live in the north but have followed a bit of the lead up to this election)

Cash rich? Seriously? I don't see much evidence of that in the west of Ireland.

 

[IrishBlueSince92]

Have they not got a record 25 billion surplus, helped by the recent Apple taxes that they got paid back?

Thats my point, they are sitting with billions in reserves but haven't invested in infrastructure, health, housing, public services etc

Thats why I think people are mad to be voting in the same government again.

A sign of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome

 

[law74]

I'm in 2 minds about FG and SF. No interest in FF or the rest.

I sorta think that FG are both the problem and the solution. I like that they are doing the right thing in many places but hate that they ignore the real crisis situations that many are in. Its like they see everything 5 years in the future and choose to be blind to today (let them eat cake). I also think that they are incredibly arrogant and disrespectful. Basically spoiled rich people's kids.

I like a lot of what SF had to say a few years ago but I've not paid much attention since and God knows what they would be like. I also have no interest in a united Ireland unless almost all people in the North wanted it (90+%). And I've no care about what was done in generations past North or South... all irrelevant to today. I am just a bit tempted to try the lefties to see if they could address today's crisis without screwing up the future.

I'll probably go FG and then SF and see what happens.

If you check the current SF they evolved from the Provisional movement which split from the Official IRA because it was too "red" and not "green" enough.

I class that as a populist party that only has one fixed policy, "Brits out" whatever the cost.
No "left wing" party would agree to cutting corporation tax by culling public services, but in the North SF actively supported this as it would bring the North closer in taxation to the Republic.

 

[TonyM]

I don't think they've ever denied that that is their main aim.

I also don't think its that bad a thing.

Not a bad thing if it doesn't lead to people feeling 2nd class or it leading to violence.

I think our tolerance for political violence was a long time ago. Back when we accepted 26 counties and had a civil war. And then again through the troubles.

I hope we wait another few generations of goodwill to all before we unite ... if at all. No harm having the dream though.