One blogger hopes to introduce a series of debates on election issues, he tells Adam Maguire

Cian O'Flaherty started blogging just last year through his site "Progressive Ireland", and soon the UCD politics and philosophy student began to see increasing interest.

"The place has exploded. I personally blog on politics and current affairs; for me it's a chance to air views that otherwise might not get an outlet. Most of the major interest and help has come from bloggers of a similar style. We get to take issues that matter to us and explore them."

Finding readers interested in politics and current affairs was a plus, but finding a passionate group of similarly-minded bloggers opened up a whole new world for O'Flaherty. Not bound by editorial policy, not concerned with readership figures and not tied down by costs, a whole community of politically minded writers were finding a platform to discuss issues.

The problem with these types of large online communities is that they lack a hub; an epicentre to gather all relevant information. Enter the Irish Election Blog, www.irishelection.com, O'Flaherty's latest project. "It's an attempt to get Irish bloggers together in one site, collate their different views and ideas on the forthcoming election and provide a one-stop shop for those not au fait with blogging to pick up some independent commentary."

The site has already attracted interest from those likely to be involved in next year's general election. Liz McManus, deputy leader of the Labour party, provided a guest-post in honour of the site's launch. She said: "While blogging is still at an early stage in Ireland in comparison to other countries, it is a growing trend. Many politicians aren't aware of this medium as yet."

A native of Kerry, O'Flaherty believes that most Irish politicians are only beginning to understand the benefits of blogging. "Politicians have been slow to adopt the web as a medium of communication. However, the rise of blogs has diversified to a large degree the discourse available online and hopefully this site can bring this difference to bear on the political system."

The Election Blog allows any Irish blogger to post election-related pieces, regardless of length, subject or even bias. It could be a feature, a report or a rant, as long as it's political. "I am hoping to introduce a series of debates between bloggers and politicians on issues affecting the upcoming elections. I also hope to commission some big-name bloggers who aren't directly involved to do some comment pieces and perhaps get a few more posts from TDs and election candidates."

So will this blog hold serious influence over the composition of the next government? O'Flaherty acknowledges that blogging won't be as important here in 2007 as it was in the US two years ago.

"The Irish political system is a creature of habit and less open to new ideas than other systems. Blogging will be at best on the fringes, reaching a smaller number of more dedicated voters looking to expand on issues."

Although it won't redefine Irish politics just yet, the Irish Election Blog hopes to have some impact. "First [ we hope] that it provides a wide audience to Irish bloggers," says O'Flaherty. "Second, we hope that it generates high quality debate on the issues that this election is or isn't talking about."

www.irishelection.com