Think twice before you vote to simply 'change the management' .A recent poll by a well-known Irish youth-oriented website , which is sponsored by , amongst other entities ,the State Department of Social and Family Affairs and the State Department of Foreign Affairs (full list of sponsors here) , has found that " Up to 70% (of young voters) won’t vote " and that this election will be " missing the ‘youth factor’. Young people in Ireland are not as uninterested in the upcoming elections as many people might think. Instead they are finding the political system inaccessible, confusing and uninspiring."
According to SpunOut.ie "....there are approximately 500,000 young people in Ireland between the ages of 18 and 25 and according to a SpunOut.ie poll, up to 70% (350,000) of these may not be voting on Friday."
Don't add to their false prestige and financial well-being by voting political leeches on to the gravy train!For what it's worth , this blog would ask those who are entitled to vote - young and not-so-young - to claim their vote and , if a suitable candidate is not contesting for a seat in your area ,to purposely spoil that vote!
Elections to the so-called 'European Parliament' will be held in the Six north-eastern counties of Ireland on Thursday 4th June 2009 : having scanned the websites , leaflets , policy documents and stated political intentions of the candidates contesting that election in those occupied Six Counties , the only advice we can offer those intending to claim their ballot paper is to purposely spoil it by , for instance , writing 'None Of The Above!' on it and deposit it in the ballot box . If you feel that the statement 'None Of The Above!' doesn't quiet express what you think of the politically self-serving monied 'elite' that are trying to convince you to put them on to the European/Leinster House/local Council gravy train , feel free to write your own message on your ballot paper.
Elections to that same European gravy train , local councils and , in Dublin , to two vacant seats in Leinster House , will be held in the 26-County State on Friday 5th June 2009 : again , having scanned the websites of those contesting those elections , having read their brochures and leaflets and having talked to some of them on the street and on the doorstep , we again - for the most part - recommend purposely spoiling your vote . The exceptions (*) we would recommend voting for are those who look at problematic issues from an Irish Republican perspective . Candidates like these, for instance , who have made it clear where they stand in relation to the important issues and who have a political point-of-view that we on this blog are in agreement with.
If you can't use it to affect real change ,then play smart and safe : spoil it! Finally - those of us with an interest in politics have seen this before : where we replace one set of political incompetents with the set of political incompetents - or a mixture of them - that had previously been voted out of office . The result was , and is , that they get fatter and richer while we continue to get screwed.
If we're fool enough to keep repeating the process then we deserve to be screwed.
If there are no decent , principled candidates (see above link*) contesting in your area for a seat ,then purposely spoil your vote . Either write " None Of The Above! " on it , or perhaps a shorter message of your choice...!
Thanks!
Sharon.
(PLEASE NOTE - our usual Wednesday '3-in-1' post will be held over until Saturday 6th June 2009 , which is the day after the last election on this island . We want to try and reach as many people as possible with this message and will leave it here until that date.)
