I feel a strong sense of sadness as I see Fianna Fáil cruising to victory in this election
Me too, UI. It is a real shame, however there still seems to be a chance of McDowell losing his seat which would be fantastic.
One of the downsides of STV is that marginal parties with no real mandate like the PDs end up in power. FF are in, but let's hope the PDs are not. A spell in opposition may well spell the begining of the end for Thatcherite scum.
I can't say I am disappointed at all. As much as I'd livo a change of government I think FF is still way better than FG & Labour. I'd be physically sick if Kenny was Taoiseach and that ever fucking whinging Rabbitt was 2nd in command. *shudder*
"I have to conclude that Fianna Fáil's scaremongering over the economy has worked."
If anyone was scaremongering it was the opposition especially Labour, IMO. Did you see their political broadcasts? Scaremongering of the highest order.
In my own opinion the election came down to this:
1. Personality. Ahern vs Kenny. One obvious winner there.
2. Health. FG/Labour's proposals were weak. I don't think I heard 1 good proposal on health from them.
3. Economy. We have it good and people are probably (rightly) worried about upsetting the balance.
4. Crime. FG lost my vote when I got a leaflet through the letterbox talking about stiffer sentences and the usual guff politicians have been spouting for years. Absolutely no new ideas. Why give them power when they have nothing new to bring to the table??
Another thing that put me off voting FG (apart from Kenny having zero personality) was this "contract" nonsense. I thought it was the greatest pile of shite I've heard in a long time
I don't agree with your mob comments. I think many people would like a change of Government but when the main opposition are muppets like Kenny & Rabbitt the decision to vote out FF isn't so simple.
"As much as I'd livo a"
As much as I'd "love" a change of...
Good news to see McDowell bow out.
Are the SWP really on course for a seat? Sitting here in London...someone let me know...
And how is Dublin North West looking?
maca, I don't agree that Kenny and Rabbitte are muppets. In Kenny's defence he has delivered a good result for his party after '02's meltdown. Rabbitte could conceivably end up Tanaiste.
I felt on health and crime FG/Lab had done well. It seemed to me the economy was their Achilles heel as they were forced to concede FF and the PDs had managed it well. The idea of the economic prosperity disappearing was a real fear for the electorate which FF exploited well. Fair play to them as it's their job to do so but I'm saddened the electorate succumbed to that ploy.
I feel you have a point about the 'contract'. To me it sounded vague and pretty hammy overall.
PHILB,
Noel Ahern has been elected in Dublin West as expected. It's looking like his party colleague Pat Carey will join him along with Labour's Róisín Shortall.
Have you not heard about Joe Higgins losing his seat for the Socialist Party? It's been a bad day for socialists.
I feel sorry for Joe as he seems like one of the good guys.
PDs 100% to hold Noel Grealish's seat in Galway West the PD vote has risen to 16% from 12% in 2002 strangely.
Good to see the bigots taking a kicking.
Goodbye and good riddance McDowell, you'll not be missed, least of all by the people of other nations that have contributed to *your* country's prosperity.
And with regards the *only* "all-Ireland" party....ha!
Obviously the ROI has moved on from the sewer that is NI politics.
Hard luck lads, looks like you'll have to start soon finding *real*
policies- sectarianism doesn't sell south of the border apparently.
UI
"In Kenny's defence he has delivered a good result for his party after '02's meltdown"
I agree. He's done a good job as leader but I personally don't think he has what it takes to be Taoiseach. We'll see in 5 years 
"I felt on health and crime FG/Lab had done well"
I don't agree. Kenny was caught out badly on health in the debate with Ahern. It's one of the areas where I really thought they failed. Extra beds (which they can't pay for) won't solve the health crisis.
UI...don't feel betrayed. The fact is that the Opposition couldn't muster a real 'opposition'. They were regurgitated FF.
So why would a voter give up FF >> for FF Light?
The fact is Éire needs a real party in leadership and not one that makes all kinds of promises to get elected. The voters saw through the packaging of FG and voted elsewhere.
Slán go fóill!
Maca,
Extra beds (which they can't pay for) won't solve the health crisis
Extra beds are exactly what will solve the health crisis. We have less beds now than we did in the 80s and a lot more people. Doesn't take a genius...
Of course in FF Wonderland, there is no health crisis!
Spot on United Irelander. A sad, sad day for Ireland! But the turning point will come. What you reap, you sew, and it won't be long until Irish wake up to the mess it has made of its country just like the brits woke up in the end to the disaster of Maggie Thatcher and her handbag economic policies that rewarded short term greed at the expense of sound long term planning for the benefit of society as a whole!
Keep on fighting!
Surely your headline should have a sub heading saying: Murderous facists defeated?
Bye Bye SF
What a plank!
Wan't SF's best day out but they are going nowhere. Sorry to be the one to break it to you...
I hope Mary Harney can rebuild the PDs like in 2002. Hopefully we'll have a FF-PD govt propped up by Independents, and Harney will have a chance to complete the job of fixing the Health Service.
It would be a disgrace if the PDs get into government. The leader and the deputy leader have both lost their seats. The country sent the PDs a message - get lost.
Harney meanwhile has made a balls of the health service and should be kept far away from any cabinet ministries.
My preferred option would be FF-Lab as I feel it would be the most stable option and Labour could keep FF in check better than the Greens, PDs or Independents.
Even the INO admits that under Harney, the numbers on Dublin trollies have fallen 40%. I think she has been a real visionary in terms of repairing the damage to the health-service of successive FF, FG and Labour health-ministers. Her acheivements include allowing public patients who cannot be expediently treated in public-hospitals to be treated in private-hospitals via the National Treatment Purchase Fund - which has treated 50,000 people. Her co-location plan is actually backed by the public according to poll a few days before polling-day, with 51:49 agreeing with it. If Harney had still been PD leader, we would have fared better. Indeed it said on the news that if this had been a referendum on health, Mary Harney won because she kept her seat (and got 37% of FF transfers in Dub MW) and all of the Hospital candidates lost theirs.
Brain,
You might want to face up to the fact that your party are now a national joke.
JG
"Extra beds are exactly what will solve the health crisis"
Er.. right! *sarcastic as fuck*
I had a friend sit waiting for a bed for around 6 hours recently ... there was a bed available but the consultant wouldn't release it until midnight.
Extra beds may help somewhat but they most certainly will NOT solve the health crisis.
Proper management, good organisation and control over consultants are badly needed. Doesn't take a genius...
Perhaps I should have phrased it differently. Extra beds won't solve the problem alone (of course not) but they are essential.
Extra beds may help somewhat
You're ignoring my original point, we have more people and less beds. CJH and O'Hanlon cut beds in the 80s and they badly need to be replaced. The problem will not be solved without a significant amount of extra beds.
I worked in a hospital for a few years and saw many of the problems first hand. For example, the A&E crisis would be seriously aided if there were more step-down and community care beds, which would in turn free up acute beds.
I take your point about better management and organisation. Here's another thing I saw first hand; there are a lot of admin staff in hospitals that do damn-all. If they vanished from their desks tomorrow nobody would be any the worse off. That situation also needs to change.
JG it's not over till the fat lady sings!
JG
"You're ignoring my original point, we have more people and less beds"
I'm not ignoring the point, as I said it will help but won't solve the problem as there are much deeper issues than a mere lack of beds.
More beds may solve 1 problem ... where are the plans to solve the many other problems? FG didn't appear to have them, they constantly went on about 2300 new beds (with no idea how to pay for them) so lost my vote.
Right...
Maybe we're arguing different things. As far as FG is concerned I would more or less share your lack of confidence.
Btw, no real progress will be made on the health crisis without significantly more beds. You seem to be quite the expert though so perhaps you could detail exactly what you think needs to be done!
JG
I'm far from being an expert ... just someone who needs to avail of our health services these days and who is faced with a number of frustrating problems most of which appear to be down to a lack of proper management, poor organisation and insufficient front line resources.
The only way to deliver more beds expediently is hospital co-location. Building more private-hospitals (which are built far quicker than public ones) will allow for the 20% of beds in public-hospitals designated for private-patients to be freed up, as they will be treated in private-hospitals instead.
why was McDowell hated so much? i thought he did a good job of demolishing Gerry Adams in that Primetime debate.
i'm just curious. from over here in the UK i thought he was an effective and highly combative leader, well able to stand his ground, and a pain in the neck for the PIRA and Sinn Fein.
was he just a bit too abrasive for the Irish electorate?
i'm not a PD supporter. i'm just genuinely curious about this.
I think McDowell was left looking weak because one minute he was raising serious questions about Bertie Ahern's finances and yet a few days later he was photographed laughing and joking with him.
Ahern is a bit of a mystery because every time he comes under fire he seems to have people rally around him. Don't ask me why.
I also think McDowell did get a bit too abrasive as you touched on above.
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