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Post by Young Ireland on Dec 15, 2015 21:48:59 GMT
A Renua candidate in Cavan-Monaghan has been sacked after she compared Pope Francis to antichrist, denounced the recent St Peter's lightshow about global warning and said the Vatican was "rotten with gay sex". Oddly enough, the Renua statement said she got the boot because her statements were offensive to the gay community, even though members of said community regularly suggest the Vatican bureaucracy is full of closet cases. She appears to be a Catholic, rather than a Protestant fundamentalist (which I thought at first might be the case). I wonder has she got links to some of the individuals such as the "Two Patricks" who are talking about Antichrist in their private revelations. A sad example of someone who meant well (her statements on the family and the 8th Amendment were very good) but just didn't know how to edit her thoughts or keep a critical distance from alarmists on the Web. Personally, I fear that the election will see Endanias returned in triumph, perhaps even with an overall majority. FG are the only party that have a strong chance of being the core of a stable government, the opposition are fragmented, and I suspect there are still more people out there who have something to lose than there are people who want to pull down the pillars of the Temple. Any thoughts about how things are likely to shape up? I agree, though I do think that FG will be much less inclined to advance the liberal agenda quite as much now that Labour are as good as out of the picture, particularly if they are relying on support from FF or Renua. I think we could actually do worse: we could have SF in government, with all that entails...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2015 19:48:06 GMT
You could spoil your vote by having a whole load of people for something that doesn't exist - all voting for the same thing. Then they'd see there are a large number of voters with some influence who are holding back. A bit ambitious I think though.
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Post by Young Ireland on Dec 18, 2015 20:20:55 GMT
You could spoil your vote by having a whole load of people for something that doesn't exist - all voting for the same thing. Then they'd see there are a large number of voters with some influence who are holding back. A bit ambitious I think though. I think so too Antaine, that undertaking requires a lot of organisation (I'm talking about tens of thousands of people minimum), something in which we are sorely lacking.
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Post by hibernicus on Dec 18, 2015 22:46:11 GMT
I think a spoiled vote is a spoiled vote and gives the politicians very little to worry about.
Any impact traditional SF abstentionism had (other than making people less likely to support SF) was not because of abstentionism itself but because of the other things the abstentionists were doing.
Abstentionism only makes sense if (a) the abstentionists have such overwhelming support they have a very strong and immediate chance of victory or (b) the abstentionists are already a small self-conscious sect, and abstentionism reinforces their sense of identity as a small minority of the pure and righteous. The second tactic involves a tacit acceptance that those who have the vulgar and merely material votes will, for the time being, run things as they please.
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Post by hibernicus on Jan 15, 2016 22:34:12 GMT
It seems that I owe Enda Kenny an apology, on one point at least. In an earlier post on this thread, I suggested (derived from some media speculation I saw) that the decision of the Galway West TD Brian Walsh, who voted against the PLP Act but subsequently returned to Fine Gael, not to contest the next election on health grounds was in fact due to his having been frozen out by the party organisation as revenge for his stance on the abortion legislation. It is now clear that Mr Walsh is genuinely ill; he has resigned from the Dail for that reason: www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/fine-gael-td-brian-walsh-resigns-from-the-dail-34365263.html It is important to put the record straight; Enda KEnny has enough to answer for on the basis of what he has done, without being accused of what he didn't do. In the meantime, let us remember MR Walsh in our prayers.
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Post by hibernicus on Jan 15, 2016 22:49:44 GMT
David Quinn suggests pro-lifers should vote for Renua candidates where these are not committed to repealing the 8th Amendment, on the grounds that this is the best way for pro-life voters to make an electoral impact. www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/david-quinn/prolife-supporters-must-consider-voting-for-their-local-renua-candidate-34345460.htmlOne query I would have is whether the fact that a Renua candidate does not support repealing the 8th Amendment is enough to make them "solidly pro-life". We might have a better idea if someone at the press conference had asked which of them were committed to uphold the 8th. In the meantime, the five Renua candidates who have committed themselves to repeal the 8th, and should therefore be opposed, are - Patrick McKee (Carlow-Kilkenny); Milo Power (Waterford); Frank Cronin (DĂșn Laoghaire); Anne Farrell (Galway-Roscommon); and Michael Gargan (Dublin South Central). One of the 13 remaining Renua candidates, Desmond J Hayes (Limerick City) has now withdrawn, and it is possible that other candidates may come forward before nominations close.
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Post by hibernicus on Jan 29, 2016 23:22:55 GMT
BEfore the last election, Leo Varadkar made pro-life noises and got attacked for them. Then I said I would vote for him if I lived in his constituency, in the hope that he might possibly be sincere. Now Dr Varadkar tells us he has "grown up" and favours abortion on mother's health grounds as well as life. (Bear in mind that "health can be interpreted so widely and vaguely in this context as to give abortion on demand.) Well, Dr Varadkar, I've "grown up" too. If I lived in your constituency I would give a higher preference to Ruth Coppinger (Say, about a twentieth preference) than you. She actively advocates evil and calls it good, but at least she has been consistent about it rather than being an opportunist. www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/varadkar-backs-abortion-when-woman-s-health-is-at-risk-1.2514362
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Post by Young Ireland on Jan 30, 2016 15:26:25 GMT
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Post by hibernicus on Jan 31, 2016 20:07:31 GMT
The Dail election is not the only one on the island this year; there are also the assembly elections in Northern Ireland. PHOENIX has a piece on the elections in Foyle which attributes Martin McGuinness's decision to contest that constituency rather than mid-Ulster, not only to desire to take on the SDLP but from fear of the rise of republican independents, who in this election are backing a local GP called McLoughlin, who combines left-republican views with being pro-life. Does anyone have more info about this? (Goldvulture is not a model of accuracy and likes to "spin" things to help SF.) Personally if I lived in Derry I'd vote for Pat Ramsey of the SDLP, who is a strong pro-lifer.
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Post by Young Ireland on Jan 31, 2016 20:18:11 GMT
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Post by hibernicus on Feb 2, 2016 21:14:08 GMT
That's right, Young Ireland. Thanks for the correction.
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Post by Young Ireland on Feb 2, 2016 21:44:04 GMT
That's right, Young Ireland. Thanks for the correction. No problem, I've made plenty of mistakes like that myself, so don't worry about it.
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Post by Young Ireland on Feb 3, 2016 12:34:00 GMT
The Dail has been dissolved, the election will be on the 26th February, and I have now put up a poll for people to vote on.
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Post by Ranger on Feb 3, 2016 22:14:14 GMT
I have a Renua candidate in my constituency who is pro-life, and although I'm not 100% behind their other policies, I would hope that they'd push for the political reforms they're talking about. That said, I haven't seen all of the other options in the area yet. I'll have a look at my local FF/Ind candidates but I'm not hopeful in that regard.
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Post by pugio on Feb 4, 2016 9:29:08 GMT
Some of you may be interested in www.smartvote.ie/I did the test and it was very accurate in my case.
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