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Dublin West and more leaflets from the By (or Bye) Election October 18, 2011

Posted by irishelectionliterature in Uncategorized.
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Harry McGee had a decent analysis of Dublin West in today’s Irish Times.

He made a lot of sense in arguing tha Labours Pat Nulty was the Favourite to win. It was though his final paragraph that stood out regarding Fianna Fails David McGuinness

.. McGuinness was Fianna Fáil’s second candidate in the general election and amassed only 660 votes, albeit in the context of a nationwide meltdown. The 26-year-old is a personable and enthusiastic candidate, a music teacher from a working class background. On a canvas with party leader Micheál Martin it was clear that while an outsider to win, Fianna Fáil’s performance here will not be a disaster. Much of the raw anger towards the party has dissipated.

McGuinness is likely to position himself strongly for the next general election.

Has the anger really dissapated?

Whilst the Presidential Election has been making the headlines, Fianna Fail have been throwing the proverbial kitchen sink at Dublin West. A number of friends live in the constituency and Fianna Fail are everywhere. The Gallagher surge has also put extra pep in their step.
So what would be a success for Fianna Fail here? Running David McGuinness and Brian Lenihan they got 16.59% in February. They would be delighted to see that again given that Lenihan had quite a personal vote. Given the location of the candidates I think they’ll break 10% but had McGuinness been a Castlenock based candidate he may have done better. Still anything in the region of 15% and hes doing well. We might also get a glimpse if Fianna Fail are still as transfer toxic.

So following up on a previous post concerning Fianna Fail and Labours by Election Leaflets it’s back to the matter of more candidates leaflets and how the message has changed since the election.
Before that is the spelling…..
Eithne Loftus and David McGuinness are standing in a “Bye-Election” whilst Ruth Coppinger and Paul Donnelly are standing in a “By-Election”.

I was amazed looking at the leaflet from Fine Gaels Eithne Loftus. Needless to say there is no five point plan, in fact there is nothing national on it, just some local interest and profile of the candidate and a message from Leo Varadkar. Not a word about achievements in Government or the like.

For Ruth Coppinger the change from Joe Higgins February material is that (as mentioned by Harry McGee) Connolly Hospital is an issue as is the new Household Tax. Otherwise the message is roughly the same in attacking the austerity measures whilst bailing out the banks.

Sinn Feins Paul Donnelly also lists Connolly Hospital as well as attacking the austerity measures of the current government. So the government has changed but the mesage has stayed roughly the same.
The Green Partys Roderic O’Gorman concentrates on Jobs and the Green Economy, Job Creation, Education and Political Reform. Very similar to the February Election.

Dublin West and how Fianna Fail and Labours Electoral messages have changed since February … October 8, 2011

Posted by irishelectionliterature in Fianna Fáil.
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To date I’ve gotten a number of leaflets from Dublin West and naturally the Electoral Messages from the parties have changed since February’s General Election.
I’m going to start with Fianna Fail and Labours leaflets and do another post on the other 3 main candidates (Paul Donnelly of Sinn Fein, Ruth Coppinger of the Socialist Party/ULA and Eithne Loftus of Fine Gael)
The most radical change is that of Fianna Fails who campaigned as the outgoing government and campaigned on the merits of its National Recovery Plan.
see Brian Lenihans Letter to voters and the Dublin West Real Plan Better Future Leaflet.
Now in opposition, has their electoral message changed? Using the leaflet I have from David McGuinness (posted here)….
First off we see Fianna Fail positioning themselves as a constructive opposition. There is the message that having another government TD won’t be of any benefit to the constituency, nor will voting for Paul Donnelly or Ruth Coppinger be any use either.

“The people of this constituency will not benefit from electing another silent Government Party backbencher, particularly as we already have two TDs sitting in Cabinet. There is also no benefit to be gained by electing another TD who opposes everything and puts ideology first.”

Then we get on to “My Priorities for Dublin West”

Mortgage Pressures
The economic and social plight of families with unsustainable mortgages must be tackled…

Protecting the Vulnerable
We have to restore the economy and protect the most vulnerable as we do so. That’s why I will oppose Government proposals to introduce extra income tax increases and to cut welfare and pensions in December’s budget.”

Supporting our Schools
I will campaign for funding for extra school places. The Government proposes to raise the school starting age to 6, to increase class sizes and to end transition year. I will oppose these short sighted cuts.

Its hard not to be cynical reading the above especially considering the welfare and education cuts carried out by the previous Government …. and that’s before we get to ‘Mortgage Pressures’… a result of the part State sponsored property boom that led to massive house prices that led to massive mortgages …. the lax regulation that led to lax standards when giving out mortgages … the corruption and bad decisions in planning ….the economic collapse …. etc etc etc

So to read the leaflet from McGuinness, you’d get the impression that Fianna Fail were never in government at all.

From Fianna Fail to Labour and Patrick Nultys leaflet from February. The main difference is that his similar leaflet for the by-election (posted here) does not have Eamon Gilmore featured at all, although it does have the candidate pictured with Joan Burton.
The message is roughly the same although in the by-election leaflet amongst other things is

“If elected Patrick will:
“….Strongly support the local campaign to retain services in Connolly Hospital”

The future of services at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown is one of the main issues Sinn Feins Paul Donnelly (His Connolly Hospital Leaflet) and Socialist Party/ ULA candidate Ruth Coppinger (Connolly Hospital mentioned in her newsletter too) are campaigning on.

Nultys leaflet finishes with

“Last February the people voted overwhelmingly for change. This election provides us with a chance to solidify that decision and to elect a voice for equality and justice to the Dail.”

So for Labour this by-election is an opportunity to continue on from February’s election.