The Irish Times has assembled a panel of readers, drawn from across the State and from all cross-section of age groups, to discuss the general election campaign. They talk about the issues that affect their lives and how they are likely to vote.
Tommy (26) – jobseeker
Tommy Cole is 26 and lives in Tralee, Co Kerry. He is a jobseeker and says it is difficult as a young person with a disability to find work. He stays up late at night to apply for jobs, researches the positions and attends interviews but feels frustrated by the difficulties he has encountered. He was born in Lagos but moved to Ireland when he was young; he lives with his father and stepmother.
He says he loves living in Ireland but is finding it difficult to find somewhere to rent and has been told he would be waiting a long time for social housing. He wants to see progress on giving disabled people better access to work, as well as better levels of pay.
He also says political parties should prioritise sporting bodies which give disabled people better access to sports such as tennis, soccer and Gaelic football. Cole says he is keeping an open mind on who to vote for in the election. “I need to see what the parties are planning to do for the next five years. I can’t just pick anyone.” JB
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Kim (26) – working, living with parents
Kim Walshe is a 26-year-old communications worker who lives in Drimnagh, Dublin. She is currently living at home with her parents. She has been looking at moving out but thinks high rent would eat up a large portion of her wages, and so she is saving for a deposit, in order to buy. “It feels like it’s sometimes out of reach, though,” she says. She became interested in politics through the Repeal of the Eighth Amendment abortion campaign and says she has always tended towards Sinn Féin politically. She voted for the party in the 2020 general election; however, she says she has not been impressed with its performance since then.
“I’ve gone off them a bit. I expected more out of them, even though I know there’s only so much they can do in opposition. They don’t have clear plans. I feel if I earned above what I do now, I’d be cut out of their housing plans. Eoin Ó Broin is a great spokesperson but they haven’t wowed me.”
Walshe also points to the cost-of-living as a significant issue. “I didn’t get a lot in the budget; there wasn’t a lot there for me. And everything costs more now,” she says.
In relation to her voting intentions, she says she will “always lean left”. And although she says she is “sceptical of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil”, she is open to hearing their pitches, and those of other parties. “It will be interesting to see how they all perform in the leader debates. That will be an important moment.” JB
Aisling (29) – city-centre tech worker
Aisling O’Reilly is a 29-year-old tech worker who lives on the north side of Dublin’s city centre. She recently moved home after living for five years in San Francisco, where she also worked in tech. She says her job there was well paid and came with a good lifestyle, and that returning home has been an adjustment.
She is currently renting a house with two friends and has been trying, unsuccessfully, to buy a home; she thought she had saved enough but “things have spiralled so much” in recent years that it does not seem feasible any longer, she says. She received mortgage approval but the asking prices for properties “are completely different to what the house actually ends up going for”. She has seen some houses selling for more than €100,000 above their asking price. “I can’t justify sending that much money on something I don’t think is worth it,” she says.
O’Reilly describes the recent budget as “disappointing” and says that while money off electricity bills is welcome, she feels political parties have failed to outline a long-term vision to address stretched services at a time when the population is rising: “It felt like such a missed opportunity.” Although she is keeping an open mind on who to vote for, she has not been convinced by Sinn Féin as she feels the party has not adequately outlined a longer-term plan for the country. She identifies climate change as an important issue. JB
Catherine (47) – public-service worker
Public-service worker Catherine Bergin (47) lives in Dundalk. The mother-of-one highlights education as a key issue for her, saying her daughter was in a class of 35 children last year. She’s in a smaller one now but Bergin describes the class size issue as “Russian roulette”. She has voted for the Green Party and Labour in the past, and says her natural inclination politically is left and centre-left. Her vote this time will depend on which candidates stand, she says.
She is sceptical of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, which she says represent the “status quo” and she is not enthused by Sinn Féin. Bergin is interested in the environment and wants to hear what the parties have to say about global warming.
Violence against women is another issue she highlights, saying she is “very concerned” about safety on the streets. There can be a “sense of danger” in large urban centres such as Dundalk and “if a party could give a promise a single person would feel safe walking around town it would be significant for me”. CMcQ
Seán (54) – rural admin professional
Father-of-three Seán Ryan (54) lives in Castleconnell, in rural Co Limerick. A homeowner, he works in administration at a third-level institution but spent half of his career in the private sector between multinationals and indigenous companies. He identifies overcrowding in the emergency department of University Hospital Limerick as a huge issue, saying: “Anyone I know who has gone through the A&E has had a nightmare experience.”
He has concerns regarding Ireland’s infrastructure and the housing situation. He laments the length of time it takes to deliver projects and highlights the need for the M20 Limerick-to-Cork road.
Ryan is a Fianna Fáil supporter and is impressed with party leader Micheál Martin. He says he would like to see two or three parties form a strong Government after the election, particularly in light of the uncertainty created by Donald Trump’s victory in the United States. CMcQ
Robert (62) – business owner
Robert Kennedy (62) employs 17 people in his window-fitting business. He is frustrated by what he sees as a lack of supports for employers and is critical of the current Government, and Fine Gael in particular. He accuses the party of “hypocrisy” over the famous slogan that it supports people who get up early in the morning while bringing in increased costs for business, such as the introduction of an extra public holiday.
However, he does not see Sinn Féin as a “viable option” for employers either. Kennedy considers himself “on the fence” in terms of who he will vote for. A homeowner in Douglas, Cork, he admits to a “grudging admiration” for fellow Corkonian, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, even if he does not agree with his party on everything.
He has voted for the main Government parties in the past but needs persuasion this time around. A father of two, Kennedy has a daughter living in Australia because she could not afford rent in Ireland. The affordability of living in the State is a concern for him as a result. He also says that, as an employer with vacancies to fill, “we can’t get young people because they’re gone – they’re out of the country”. CMcQ
Gretta (36) – working mother
Gretta Fitzgerald, a 36-year-old advocacy adviser with Concern Worldwide, lives with her partner and eight-month-old son in Portumna, Co Galway. Both she and her partner work remotely; Fitzgerald is currently on maternity leave. They bought a home with a mortgage in September after spending time abroad and have a strong focus on the availability of services, such as childcare places and GP access, as well as measures to strengthen remote working.
“As a working mother, we did all the things we were supposed to do – went to college, climbed the ladder, finally got the house and had the baby – but working so hard and not getting traction is a big challenge,” she says.
After her son was born, Fitzgerald was quite ill and was taken aback by how “ridiculous it is to try and get timely and appropriate support” in the HSE. Following her experience she purchased private health insurance for the first time, having previously had a principled objection to it.
She is currently undecided who to vote for. “To be honest I’ve often struggled to figure out who to vote for and I’d always go Independent or the smaller parties,” she says. Fitzgerald is pleased to see investment in services such as the Local Link bus, but is frustrated that other utilities seem to be deteriorating year on year. JHJ
Rebecca (39) – primary schoolteacher
Rebecca Saunders is a primary schoolteacher who lives in Dublin 7. Aged 39, she graduated from college in 2008 and feels the following years were a “lost decade” for her and her peers during the recession. She feels working in education has “become increasingly pressurised since the pandemic”, with inadequate provision for special needs assistants and teacher shortages affecting children’s education significantly.
The €9 million in the budget for phone pouches was “frankly insulting” at a time when schools are trying to priotise inclusion for those with most need, she believes. While she recently bought a home, Saunders is deeply frustrated with the failure to tackle the housing issue. She is also concerned about the online radicalisation of young men of her generation, which she says followed Covid.
Saunders has a “general idea” of sticking with smaller left-wing parties. She has a lot of respect for Sinn Féin’s housing policy – but is concerned about recent controversies in the party and its shifting stances elsewhere, including on immigration.
She is applying for the vacant property grant but has found the process slow and is frustrated with Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien’s rhetoric about it, arguing that local authorities have been underresourced in rolling it out. A lot of her friends are left leaning and “contemptuous” of Fine Gael in particular, but she says that, realistically, future governments are likely to be coalitions involving one or both of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. JHJ
Ciarán (40) – IT professional
Ciarán O’Sullivan is a 40-year-old Irish IT professional who works as a systems infrastructure architect with a multinational in Dublin. An apartment owner in Dublin 2, he is concerned about the amount of money he pays in tax and the adequacy of services provided in return. “There’s no policing, no healthcare, I know plenty of parents that can’t get childcare or school places,” he says. “Where does all the money go?” he asks, adding “we have nothing to show” for taxes paid by US multinationals into the exchequer in recent years.
He is concerned about immigration policy, arguing that highly skilled workers are being imported rather than graduates being hired and warning that the State is heading in the same direction as the UK, which has seen “major disenfranchisement” among voters over the issue, and is critical of tented encampments in central Dublin.
He says he has moved his vote around, though he has been “relatively” consistent in the past; however, neither of the two parties he has voted for will be getting his first preference this time, he says, with Independent Nick Delahunty a candidate who has appealed to him. JHJ
Jo (73) – grandmother
Jo Cahalan is a 73-year-old mother and grandmother who lives in Abbeyleix, Co Laois, which was overall winner of the Tidy Towns competition in 2023. She and her husband ran the local Supervalu before selling it 17 years ago. She is a former landlord.
She has five grown-up children and 11 grandchildren. She is not a fan of universal benefit payments, saying they should be based on need. “I’m not keen on it. [Some] people really need it but I’m in a position where I don’t.”
She is a former member of Fine Gael but has voted for both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in recent elections. Of the other parties, she is most interested in finding out about the Social Democrats but it has no candidate in her constituency.
Her big issues are the cost of childcare, housing, health and the environment. “I have family dependent on childcare. It’s just ferociously expensive.” She also points out that many towns in Laois are now satellite towns for commuting to Dublin. She has not made up her mind on voting intentions yet. She will not vote for Sinn Féin, or for Brian Stanley. HMcG
Ken (67) – former executive
Ken Harper (67), a former railway executive from the UK, has lived in rural Co Donegal for 10 years with his husband. He was politically active in the UK with the Labour Party. When he came to Ireland he looked for a “soft-left” party but could not find one in Donegal. He says the joke in Donegal is that every person who is under 45 votes for Sinn Féin and every person who is over 45 votes for Fianna Fáil.
He did join the Social Democrats and tried to organise the party in Donegal but to no avail. He eventually joined Alliance in Northern Ireland and has canvassed for it in Westminster and Assembly elections.
Harper has a huge interest in politics and is very knowledgeable about the eddies of the Donegal scene. His view is that Sinn Féin will get two seats but cannot get three because of Independent Thomas Pringle’s presence. He says Fianna Fáil will definitely get one but the return of Pat the Cope Gallagher could cause an upset. He is of the view that Fine Gael might be worried about retaining its seat. He sees the party as throwing big resources into the constituency. Mica redress candidates won four seats in the local council but he says it is difficult to predict how the issue will play out in the general election.
As of now, he will “currently vote Pearse Doherty number one. His performance on the finance committee has been excellent. He was very supportive in the same-sex marriage referendum in Donegal.”
Issues he has identified include the cost-of-living, housing and rural depopulation. He says the Asda supermarket in Strabane, Co Tyrone, across the bridge from Lifford, in Donegal, is always full of southern-registered cars. HMcG
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