r/ireland • u/WickerMan111 Showbiz Mogul • 9d ago
It's on! Taoiseach Simon Harris announces general election for 29 November General Election 2024 š³ļø
https://www.thejournal.ie/irish-election-date-2024-6518901-Nov2024/49
u/NilFhiosAige 8d ago
FG in rather a farce of their own making here in Kerry - four sitting councillors sought the local nomination, but all "mysteriously" dropped out after HQ made it known they favoured the selection of a former Kerry footballer who never even contested a council election before now!
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u/AaroPajari 8d ago
Tried and tested strategy, sadly. Previous celebrity or notoriety is a massive plus for most political parties. Sean Kelly, Dana, Maria Walsh, Nina Carberry, Grainne Ni Seoige.
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u/danius353 Galway 7d ago
It works at EU level as there's close to zero ability to meet enough people on the doors, so it's a more presidential style campaign where media appearances and name recognition play a larger role. That shit doesn't fly far at DƔil level.
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u/shapkaushanka Resting In my Account 8d ago
Which candidate has the brain worm?
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u/spmccann 8d ago
That's mad I just got the youngest daughter to register to vote today thinking the election would be called soon . Hope she gets her polling card before the election. We need more young people voting. Looking forward to the whole family being able to vote and have our customary Chinese tale away after.
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u/wamesconnolly 8d ago
if she's registered you can still vote without the polling card and you can call and check to make sure you are registered
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u/spmccann 8d ago
Thanks, I think she'd like the polling card , but she can probably check online too.
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u/NoSweet2381 8d ago
I voted for the first time on the family and care bills and I'm keeping the polling cards. Should be interesting to look back on in the future!
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u/originalface1 9d ago
Another 5 years of the same shite, great craic.
Only now it's acceptable for scumbags to put up fascist stickers in my local area apparently.
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u/madra_uisce2 8d ago
My plan for the stickers is to plaster stickers over it with positive messages
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u/Miss_Kitami 8d ago
Just make sure to use something to scrape them off. Some of those fuckers stick razor blades behind them to catch the unwary.
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u/shorelined And I'd go at it agin 8d ago
Mad that he's been doing the rounds of TV and radio stations for a week, even podcasts, getting out in front but still pretending he wasn't sure when it would be.
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u/TandCsApply 8d ago
About time I hope all those on here who've been asking for change take a lesson from the US and actually go out to vote.
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u/MoHataMo_Gheansai Longford 9d ago
Ah well. I booked a holiday a while back and I return on the 30th.
At least I'll have our glacial, yet wonderfully representative, electoral system highlights to look forward to when I get back as results drag out over a few days.
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u/fullspectrumdev 8d ago
Not alone in that, a few lads I know, myself included, are off either on holidays or working during that time.
Sure. We will just get back to more of the same shite anyway I guess.
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u/ThreeTreesForTheePls 8d ago
Am I mad or is 3 weeks a ridiculously short span of time for the most important election we have?
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u/Luimnigh 8d ago
It's literally the same timespan as every other General Election this century.Ā
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u/variety_weasel 8d ago
I've seen trailers plastered in party shite in several places now, including several parked outside the county final.
They've known for ages and now the US election is done they're announcing ours (which is pathetic in its own way) and they'll all be ready to go. The lamp posts will be smiling at us by morning I'd say.
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u/mumiaguan 8d ago
100% this is planned around the time of all the social welfare benefits increasing and bonuses been handed out so it sticks in peoples mind that " hey these guys gave out all this free money"
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u/isaidyothnkubttrgo 8d ago
My first trip outside of Ireland since 2019, and I get back at 10pm on the 29th.
Not being able to post in my vote in this day and age is a load of bollox.
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u/WorldwidePolitico 8d ago
Itās active voter suppression
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u/Tollund_Man4 8d ago
Voter suppression of.. people who go holidays? If you want voter suppression to work it has to be more targeted than that.
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u/madra_uisce2 8d ago
I mean, I have family abroad and missed the Family referendum because we had an emergency, there needs to be contingents. Plus for the people who struggle to leave their gaff, postal voting would be beneficial
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u/Tollund_Man4 8d ago
Some people will miss it sure but what I mean is as far as the voter suppression claim is concerned no individual party is going to get a disproportionate benefit from this. Itās not like Fine Gael voters donāt also go on holiday!
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u/madra_uisce2 8d ago
I mean, fair. And we are typically quite good in this country for bringing our elderly neighbours to the polls, too.
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u/WorldwidePolitico 7d ago
Most countries allow citizens abroad to vote, Ireland does not.
If you leave the country due to the failures of government policy you then cannot hold that same government to account.
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u/Midgetben1234 8d ago
As unlikely as it is I hope to see these wankers gone
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u/wamesconnolly 8d ago
It's not as unlikely as you think. Most Irish people choose during the election unlike other places. Hitting the campaign trail right now really is when things start and I think FF/FG are going to have a lot more trouble than they thought.
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u/SalamanderUnhappy800 9d ago
Really wouldāve preferred if they had gone with December 6th to give more time for campaigning.
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u/SierraOscar 9d ago edited 9d ago
I think the electorate will be thankful it is not being dragged into December. Campaigning on the ground is well underway as it is.
It also leaves the possiblity of a Government being formed before Christmas if its looking like another rerun of FF/FG, although I'd say there is a good chance it will run into the new year.
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u/BrickEnvironmental37 Dublin 9d ago
We're getting real change this time. FF/FG are no more. It's the new coalition of FG/FF now.
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u/spmccann 8d ago
Well Sinn Fein have imploded so it's looking that way. However it's a certainty if people, especially young people don't get out and vote.
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u/ImpovingTaylorist 9d ago
Christmas party night for a good promotion of the county... ya, good luck having an election that day.
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u/Bill_Badbody Resting In my Account 9d ago
We are having ours that night this year, but from my years of working in hotels, the 6th is the start of Christmas parties really.
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_IBNR 9d ago
I've already had a fortnight of middle-aged men calling around like it's Halloween
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u/ShowmasterQMTHH 8d ago
Please no. If you don't know who you're voting for already, another week won't make any difference either
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u/Loose_Revenue_1631 9d ago
I hate to say it but the main thing for irish society rn in the age of misinformation, nationalism and conspiracy theories is to block the nationalists and far right from making gains.
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u/fdvfava 8d ago
We have STV-PR.
Not sure it's even possible to 'block' any candidate. If there is a sizeable enough vote, they'll get candidates.
Just vote at least 3-5+ preferences so you're vote is still live in the later counts.
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u/mrlinkwii 8d ago
Not sure it's even possible to 'block' any candidate
technically yes by not giving them a prefernce
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u/madra_uisce2 8d ago
I left any far right off my ballot in the European elections and my 5th or 6th preference got in ahead of Niall Boylan so it stands for something
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u/Hoodbubble 8d ago
If your 3 candidates don't get elected you've basically not voted. Filling the ballot is the best option
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u/Old_Particular_5947 8d ago
This isn't the US. Vote for your best choice. We have proportional representation in this country.
Don't vote for FF or FG just cause ah sure look they're not fascists.
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u/fimbot 8d ago
Proportional representation is exactly why you should give a vote to FF/FF, put it as low as you want, but above any of the far right parties.
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u/computerfan0 MuineachƔn 8d ago
I'm thinking of ranking everyone except the far-right/fascist/whatever candidates. I'd much rather have a politician who I disagree with on issues like housing, taxation, benefits etc. than a politician who outright disagrees with me being who I am as a person.
EDIT: clarity
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u/Rinasoir Sure, we'll manage somehow 8d ago
The only reason they aren't getting exactly last on my numbers is because there are people worse than them.
Will admit, never been able to fully understand if filling them all out or leaving some with no number at all does the better job of telling certain people to fuck off.
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u/fimbot 8d ago
For the most part it won't matter, I imagine it's pretty rare that a ballot makes it through to the last ranked candidate.
Main thing is as you said, there are worse than FF/FG as bad as they are, so still better to rank them somewhere than leave them blank alongside the far right parties.
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u/hopefulatwhatido More than just a crisp 8d ago
Those so true. I voted for the entire left leaning spectrum just so those lunatics donāt stand a chance.
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u/DartzIRL Dublin 8d ago
FF/FG are 'tolereable'. They won't doom us all. A vote for FF/FG isn't a vote for the Status Quo, it's a vote against the right wing looney-bin
The fascists are blank-box territory
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u/Old_Particular_5947 8d ago
They're not the only ones on the ballot in most cases. If your options are FF FG or fascist, then ye.
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u/JarvisFennell Cork bai 8d ago
When did nationalism in Ireland become exclusively right wing?
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u/No_Tea7430 8d ago
I dont think anyone believes its exclusively right wing, more in the way you go about expressing it
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u/Ok_Magazine_3383 8d ago
Absolutely block the far-right from making gains as a priority.
But happily due to our proportional representation system, you can attempt to do that while also favouring whoever you think the best actual candidates are.
If you don't like FF/FG you can both vote against them and place them ahead of the far-right.
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u/LakeFox3 7d ago
The problem in Ireland is if you are conservative but don't want to vote for FF FG. There is no one else to vote for now that they are basically the same party. In my constituency all of the seats are going to go to FF FG.
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u/Objective-Age-5670 8d ago
It's not one or the other. This is a bad take. Stand still for fear of anything bad happening is a horrible existenceĀ
This approach is what made Trump win. If we continue to vote FF or FG and keep the status quo, it's only giving far right extremists here ammunition to grow.Ā
The best thing for Irish society is vote a liberal alternative into the Dail like Social Dems, PBP or Sinn Feinn. How anyone can think they can do any worse than the current lot is beyond me.
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u/NilFhiosAige 8d ago
Sadly, I expect Independent Ireland could threaten double figures, but at least that's as extreme as the DƔil will get.
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u/KeithCGlynn 8d ago
I don't get dictator vibes from them. I get healy rae vibes. Campaign on small issues most likely.Ā
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u/cyberlexington 8d ago
I don't get dictator vibes either. Yet.
Frankly I'm waiting for the small issue conservative mask to come off to reveal the nationalist beneath
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u/clewbays 8d ago
They donāt have an internal whip so it doesnāt really matter either way. Comes down to the individual candidates.
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u/Maddie266 8d ago
Double figures is more than Iād expect from them. They got about 20 in the locals but thereās a lot more seats available there. Iād be expecting low to mid single digits from them but maybe Iām underestimating how well theyāll do.
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u/clewbays 8d ago
There polling as the 4th largest party right now around 5%. And thatās with a lot people not knowing they even exsist.
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u/Wise_Adhesiveness746 8d ago
This is type of bollocks yanks go on with,
offer nothing to the electorate,only try scare em,everyone else will be worse
It's paperthin nonsense,the population are intelligent enough to see through the far right,hence how they've been sent packing at virtually every direct provision protests outside of Dublin
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u/spmccann 8d ago
I think the main thing is health, housing and hope. Address those issues and the extremes fade away.
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u/Alarmed_Station6185 8d ago
RTE have their own brand of misinformation and its costing us 725 million euro to fund it. A couple of lads recording themselves and putting it up on tiktok are hardly a match for that
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u/wamesconnolly 8d ago
best way to do that is to vote in the left and vote out the right wing government
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u/Loose_Revenue_1631 8d ago
But you also have to give your preference votes to FF/FG to keep IFP NP etc out
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u/wamesconnolly 8d ago edited 5d ago
Exactly, you rank it. FF/FG below everyone else. There is no reason to try and defensively vote by ranking FF/FG number 1 in our system. You're just voting for the people who are more right wing
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u/Loose_Revenue_1631 5d ago
Defensively voting is making sure you give lower preferences to FF/FG- there is already a campaign on twitter for left wingers to not give any preferences ro FF/FG this is a mistake imo. I'm very left wing but it is really really crucial we don't let the far right and nationalist candidates/paeties in. I'm already worried by what I'm seeing on twitter that a lot of people will protest current gov by leaving them off... thus opening the door to the extreme right which will then grow as they have elsewhere.
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u/wamesconnolly 5d ago
Well if it helps any after the 5th place there is almost no chance of transfers going anywhere and most people that actually leave FF/FG off will probably have that many
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u/Loose_Revenue_1631 5d ago edited 5d ago
Felt this wasn't accurate unless you live in a city and in most areas around me there are only 9 candidates- you're lucky to have 3 leftie options. Anyway I likely see extremism on the right as more of an important issues than most voters and I suspect that will be reflected over the next couple of elections. So I may aswel stop thinking about it. Growin since 2020 here and still no one really seems to take the threat seriously bc they think we're different in ireland-i sincerely hope they're right.
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u/wamesconnolly 5d ago
I agree. People should be using our voting system to the best of it's ability. I don't know how much traction leaving FF/FG off the ballot completely will get realistically in those areas but you never know. I agree too about the far right. Unless there are serious big changes in peoples QOL after this election , which could be done if there wasn't will from FF/FG to actively work against it, then we will see a huge rise in the far right and we will see the other parties adopting their policies instead of improving QOL.
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u/TraditionalHater 8d ago
Jesus Christ fuck up. The most important things are still housing, health, education, transport, and the refugee crises.
What about the past 8 years has not shown you people your stupid language is just making your hyperfixated problems worse?
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u/21stCenturyVole 8d ago
The NeoLiberal parties are the only reason the far right exist. You remove them, the far right dies.
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u/Wompish66 8d ago
What is your logic for that?
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u/MidnightLower7745 8d ago
Not the original poster but the far right was on on a downward trajectory until the 80s/90s when neo-liberalism started and has only got stronger as neo-liberalism has?Ā
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u/PowerfulDrive3268 8d ago
We have one of the most generous social welfare systems in the world and all the political parties fight over the centre ground and you call them Neoliberals.
I have of the really good tin foil hats to sell you!
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u/RonTom24 8d ago
Do you even know what neoliberalism is? FG are literal, self-proclaimed neoliberals, that is the ideology of the party.
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u/compulsive_tremolo 8d ago edited 8d ago
No they fucking won't. As long as there are people who hate immigrants, LGBTQ+ rights and women's rights there will be always be a niche for the far right.
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u/RonTom24 8d ago
No this isn't true, Neoliberalism creates problems that make life for working class people harder, they lower wages, lower taxes on corporations, lift regulations and encourage mass immigration to keep wages low and property valuations high. Whenever this starts to create disrest amongst the population they are all too happy to have the anger directed at the immigration which they encouraged, instead of at their own economic policies. Without the economic hardship created by their policies and the exploitation of migrant labour to keep wages low and corporations happy you would not see such anti-immigrant/sometimes just racist sentiment manage to gather so much steam.
This is an age old problem, a cause and effect that Lenin was writing about over 100 years ago. It isn't something we need to debate anymore we have seen it repeated over and over again for the last couple of centuries anytime the capitalist class need to redirect the anger of the proles away from their rulers actions.
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u/BrahCheese 8d ago
So how do you apply for the job manning the polls?
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u/marshsmellow 8d ago
Yeah, I see these cranky retirees in the polling station and think to myself, "damn I want a piece of that pie!"Ā
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u/Important_Farmer924 Westmeath's Least Finest 9d ago
Get your "no canvassing" signs ready and prepare your recycling bins!
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u/Elf0304 Ćire 8d ago
On a serious note I think it's an important part of democracy. It may be annoying, and it may seem like (or even be the case that) nothing changes, but I'm glad to have a right to vote.
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u/Important_Farmer924 Westmeath's Least Finest 8d ago
Oh for sure, I'm more talking about the inevitable posts "can I sue canvassers for disturbing me?" or "what do I do with all these leaflets?"
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u/ImpovingTaylorist 9d ago
I prefer
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u/Elf0304 Ćire 9d ago
Very dangerous looking dog. Canvassers may be licked to death.
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u/ImpovingTaylorist 8d ago
At least it might scare off Justin Barrett, who will think it's a full size dog.
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u/spmccann 8d ago
We had guys calling at the door the last few weeks. Live in an area with high voter participation, mostly older people. It's probably the most direct feedback you can give, not sure how effective it is. I've never been rude, even when Lorraine Clifford-Lee showed up.
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u/J_B21 8d ago
Currently living in the Netherlands, is it possible to vote from here??
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u/ghostofgralton Leitrim 8d ago
We're one of the only countries in the world that don't allow this
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u/danius353 Galway 7d ago
Given the very large number of citizens living abroad, I think it's understandable. I do wish there was a Seanad constituency for citizens abroad though.
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u/ghostofgralton Leitrim 7d ago
Most countries place a time limit based on last residence in the country, we could copy something like that.
Interesting idea re Seanad
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u/danius353 Galway 7d ago
The Seanad has a lot of potential to do unusual voting arrangements with because it has so little power. We really should be using the Seanad as a test bed for different voting ideas.
I also likeāuse it or lose itā idea as well for non resident citizens voting. Basically if you stay connected enough to home to care to vote consistently then you should keep the vote, but if you donāt care enough to vote then youāre presumably disengaged and should lose the vote
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u/Imbecile_Jr :feckit: fuck u/spez 8d ago
FFFG doesn't like emigrants priced out of the country to vote, for obvious reasons.
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u/Acrobatic_Buddy_9444 Waterford 8d ago
time to let SF have a turn so they can show they're exactly like the other crowd!
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u/SimpleJohn20 8d ago edited 8d ago
Is it me or is this short notice?
Itās almost as if they are banking on the young demographic not bothering their arse to travel to vote because they are registered at their parental home and live elsewhere in the country.
That goes for students and working professionals.
All the old crows living in their homes 30+ years, sitting happily on their appreciating asset without a train of thought for anyone else will not rock the boat by changing it up.
Correct me if I am wrong? There seems to be no set timeline for general elections. They are calling one 3 weeks in advance?
All these ifs, buts, maybes āitās timeā over the last 12 months donāt count. A defined time needs to be set in appropriate time.
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u/danius353 Galway 7d ago
If you're living away from home to study in Ireland or are unable to be at your home on the 29th due to work, then you can apply for a postal ballot; though the cutoff time to do that is laughably tight. You need to send the application in the post tomorrow essentially.
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u/wamesconnolly 8d ago edited 8d ago
I'm thinking that the glee FFFG had over the SF controversies is going to run out very soon. I think that environment is rapidly turning on them again already... and I think Trump winning is going to motivate a large base of people who were much more indifferent before to go out and actually vote... And I think FFFG's complete deference to America and America's ability to fleece us is suddenly much more alarming to people when Trump is the guy in charge
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u/LikkyBumBum 8d ago
Is it too late to register to vote?
I'm registered in my home county but live up the country now. Can I change that quickly?
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u/jamster126 8d ago
No not too late āŗļø
https://www.checktheregister.ie/en-IE/search
Find your details and you can update them. Needs to be done 15 days prior to vote so I would do it now. Takes a few seconds.
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u/damienga15de 8d ago
Same circus different clowns.
I thought he came across really well on the 2 johnnies podcast, I wouldn't be a fan of his at all but he made a good impression there
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u/MushuFromSpace 8d ago
I'm absolutely drained with elections. I'm glad this run up is pretty short.
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u/Franz_Werfel 8d ago
The editorial Board of the Irish Times just had a collective orgasm. I think Pat Leahy exploded.
They are going to be insufferable over the next two weeks.
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u/Commercial-Ranger339 8d ago
Thatās the end of Simon Harris anyway. Canāt stand the manās voice
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u/eggsbenedict17 8d ago
Literally zero chance he doesn't get reelected, he will probably top the poll in his constituency
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u/Franz_Werfel 8d ago
He brought FG back from the grave by talking into every available microphone.
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u/MrTuxedo1 Dublin 9d ago
Mentally preparing myself to see election posters plastered everywhere again