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'For me, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are virtually the same'

Columnist Julien Mercille gives us his take on the election ahead.

WE’RE ALMOST THERE. This Friday, we will elect a new government. Here are a few of my tips on how to vote in an informed way.

1. Do vote

Some believe that all politicians are the same and that nothing will ever change, so why bother voting?

In fact, not voting simply allows the same parties to stay in power and prevents change. There is a lot of choice in this election (see point 4 below), so those who want change should use the opportunity and tell friends, colleagues and family to do the same.

2. Know your constituency

There have been changes to constituencies. Wikipedia gives a good list, with the candidates running, and the results of previous elections. This website also gives useful maps of constituencies by party and lists candidates.

3. Vote based on candidates’ actions, not on what they say or look like

Nobody believes Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong-un when they make eloquent speeches about freedom, because actions speak louder than words. It’s the same thing in Ireland or anywhere else.

Therefore, it’s irrelevant if you don’t like Mick Wallace’s hair or if you think Micheál Martin is a good speaker or if you find Enda Kenny uncomfortable in leaders’ debates, because that won’t affect policies. However, the fact that Wallace tried to close Shannon airport to the US military and that both Martin and Kenny are part of pro-austerity parties does matter, whatever one’s opinion about those policies.

4. Ireland is split along a Left-Right divide, not a phoney civil war divide

And as a general rule, the more Left they are, the more parties emphasise people power.

Parties can roughly be grouped as follows from Right to Left (this ranking excludes Independents and smaller parties, which are case by case — some are on the Right, others on the Left):

(a) Right-wing parties: Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Renua. They defend the current system and claim that by and large, the country is going in the right direction.

(b) Liberal parties: Labour, Greens, Social Democrats (with the latter more progressive than the other two). They emphasise issues like abortion, gay rights, gender equality, and the environment. But, in my opinion, they are not committed to a significant restructuring of our society, believing in more moderate adjustments.

(c) Left nationalist populist party: Sinn Féin. It is located between (b) and (d), but probably closer to (b). It is more serious about changing the system than the liberal parties, but more willing to be pragmatic than the radical Left parties. It is imbued with a strong dose of nationalism as well.

(d) Radical Left parties: Anti-Austerity Alliance, People Before Profit, Workers Party. They believe in people power, a serious restructuring of our economy and political sphere, and are not inclined on compromising on those principles. They argue that equality is not just about allowing gay people to marry or making abortion available to women, but also about economic equality. To achieve the latter, they maintain that the system must be changed.

5. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are virtually the same

Many people are dissatisfied with Fine Gael in power and are thinking about “giving a chance” to the Fianna Fáil “alternative”. But as a number of journalists and editors have noted in the media, the two parties are very similar. Some even talk of “Fianna Gael” to make this point. They have similar values and policies.

The consequence is that voters should be careful that voting for either of the two main parties will bring change. Alternatively, if you like one, there is no reason not to like the other.

6. Three concrete voter profiles

Here are suggestions for three types of voters:

(a) You’re progressive: There is a lot of debate among progressives on how to vote. Should Labour be sent to the dustbin of history? Should Sinn Féin be supported even if their record in Northern Ireland is not completely clean?

A minimalist approach could work, however: support whoever you like, except Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Renua. This would ensure that those parties will shrink, and the door will therefore be open for change.

(b) You’re moderate: There is a lot of dissatisfaction with the government, as many recent polls have shown. But many voters are also not comfortable with parties like the Anti-Austerity Alliance or People Before Profit. One obvious option here is to vote for one of the Liberal parties above (Labour, Social Democrats, Greens). The more audacious may consider an Independent like Mick Wallace or Diarmuid O’Flynn.

(c) You’re conservative: in this case, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael or Renua are the obvious choices. If still looking for change, perhaps go with an Independent who is not on the Left, or try to find candidates from the main parties who happen to have differences that matter to you.

Julien Mercille is a lecturer at University College Dublin. Twitter: @JulienMercille 

‘Downton Abbey and tea cups’: We’ve a fairly dreadful record of sexism in Irish politics>

Read: Bressie has made this front page news, but how loud do we have to shout?>

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107 Comments
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    Sep 28th 2017, 10:54 AM

    Aren’t we lucky our country doesn’t have issues like this or others.

    179
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    Mute Shawn O'Ceallaghan
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    Sep 28th 2017, 12:27 PM

    Helps not building on an island with a Volcano.

    To be fair though, we did settle beside arguably the biggest and strongest colonial power in the world. So we all make mistakes.

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    Mute Brown Boots
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    Sep 28th 2017, 12:41 PM

    I dunno, I guess you’ve not seen Mrs Boots erupting at the slightest thing!

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    Mute Harry Whitehead
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    Sep 28th 2017, 5:34 PM

    @Shawn O’Ceallaghan: People settle near volcanoes for the same reason they settle near rivers and shorelines – it’s a tradeoff between convenience and the occasional disaster. In the case of volcanoes, the convenience is agricultural – volcanic soil is known for being rich and fertile.

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    Mute dangermouse
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    Sep 28th 2017, 10:46 AM

    Isn’t prince Philips a god to these people maybe he can peg the top with the duchess of York

    35
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    Mute TravellingTheWorld
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    Sep 28th 2017, 11:11 AM

    Surprised AFP haven’t blamed ‘Global warming’

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    Mute Gerald Kelleher
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    Sep 28th 2017, 11:28 AM

    @TravellingTheWorld: Well they once tried to incorporate plate tectonics into ‘climate change’ , looking on 9 years later at the propaganda that Goebbels would have be delighted with , it is time to normalize climate as a research topic -

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVGGgncVq-4

    The big idea is comparing evolutionary geology between our planet and our sister planet Venus which are roughly the same size but with very different dynamics. The current batch of geologists don’t have the expansive view to investigate these comparisons much the same as climate guys can’t manage to look at planetary climate within context of all planets in the solar system.

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    Mute Michael Geraghty
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    Sep 28th 2017, 1:05 PM

    @Gerald Kelleher: venus is 42 million miles closer to the sun so pointless comparing the two

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    Mute Gerald Kelleher
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    Sep 28th 2017, 2:43 PM

    @Michael Geraghty: It is not entirely your fault that you can’t adapt to more challenging reasoning but the distance of Venus and the Earth from the nothing has nothing whatsoever to do with evolutionary geology on either planet.

    The Earth has a 26 mile spherical deviation between Equatorial and Polar diameters, in other words it is not a perfect sphere while Venus is. The Earth has both plate tectonic and volcanic activity while Venus has only volcanic activity. When I showed about a decade ago that it is impossible to exempt the Earth’s fluid interior beneath the thin fractured crust from differential rotation across latitudes, the community threw the kitchen sink at rotation and made a balls of it. I trust readers here to see to see how the planet’s rotation connects the planet’s Equatorial bulge (misnomer) with the motion and evolution of the surface crust (plate tectonics).

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    Mute Tomás Havana Kavanagh
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    Sep 28th 2017, 11:54 PM

    @Gerald Kelleher: so are ye saying earth is wobbling about the sun like a water balloon?

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    Mute Noel Allan
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    Sep 28th 2017, 11:36 AM

    Is it just me that noticed on the aircraft wingtip a new website address with an added w?
    when did wwww. become the norm…..lol?

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    Mute Brown Boots
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    Sep 28th 2017, 12:43 PM

    @Noel Allan: and they wonder why their branding ain’t working!

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    Mute Pa Curran
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    Sep 28th 2017, 7:13 PM

    Maybe they’ll pack in the prank calls now.

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    Mute Nicholas O'Halloran
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    Sep 28th 2017, 11:12 AM

    They should watch Von ryan’s express, plenty of tips

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    Mute Brown Boots
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    Sep 28th 2017, 11:16 AM

    @Nicholas O’Halloran: what sinatra running at the end, beaten only by the scene from Heat as the greatest movie running scene ever!!! What actors they all were!

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    Mute Mark Dervan
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    Sep 28th 2017, 1:54 PM

    That’s freaky! I had a missed call this morning from a strange number and when I looked up the country code it was Vanuatu which I’ve never heard of ever!

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    Mute Brian Murphy
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    Sep 28th 2017, 2:51 PM

    @Mark Dervan: So did I!

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    Mute Robc
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    Sep 28th 2017, 10:23 PM

    @Mark Dervan: so did I. I googled it and found out its a phone scam

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    Mute Jonathan Power
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    Sep 28th 2017, 2:16 PM

    I wonder could we do the same for Ireland ‘entire population evacuated prior to Leo’s budget’

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