STEPHEN COLLINS ' guide to voting in the general election
I AM ENTITLED TO VOTE FOR THE FIRST TIME. WHY SHOULD I BOTHER?
There is no law obliging people to vote but if you care about the future of the country, you should go to the polling station on Friday and cast your vote. If you don't vote, you allow other people to make a decision for you about who should run the country and you will be in no position to complain if you don't like the result.
Just take a look at the current clamour for democracy in the Arab world to appreciate the precious freedom we have in this country to choose our rulers.
HOW CAN ONE VOTE MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE?
The whole point of democracy is that every individual has an equal say so every single vote counts. Under our system of proportional representation, TDs are often elected to the Dáil by just a handful of votes, so your vote could be the one to decide the outcome in your own constituency.
AM I ELIGIBLE TO VOTE?
If you are 18 or over, you are entitled to vote but you have to be registered by your local authority. You can see if you are registered by looking up the website checktheregister.ie
If you are not on the register, you cannot vote even if you are 18 or over.
HOW DO I FILL OUT THE BALLOT PAPER?
Under the Irish system of proportional representation, you mark the ballot paper by putting the number 1 opposite the candidate you like most, followed by a number 2 opposite the candidate you like second best and so on down. You can stop at any point or fill up the entire ballot paper.
The system is very easy to use, even if the counting of the votes looks complicated. There is a great deal of flexibility in the system. If you vote number 1 for a candidate who stands a real chance of election your number two will probably not be counted.
However, if you vote number 1 for a candidate from a small party, who has little chance of being elected, the vote will pass on to your second choice and so on down until it reaches somebody who can get elected.
WHOM SHOULD I VOTE FOR?
Everybody has to make up their own minds but you have a choice of voting for a range of political parties or Independents. All of the political parties have published election manifestos in which they give the outline of what they will do if they are elected to power. We will publish a summary of all the party manifestos in The Irish Times tomorrow.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE POLITICAL PARTIES?
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been the two biggest parties since the early years of the State. They both emerged from the Civil War and are middle-of-the-road parties that try to appeal to all segments of the electorate.
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil has been the biggest party for almost 80 years and has been in power for most of that time. It always portrayed itself as the most nationalist of the major parties. Fianna Fáil has been in office continuously since 1997 but its popularity has suffered since the economic recession struck and it is now trailing in third place in the opinion polls.
Fine Gael
Fine Gael has always been the second party and has been out of office for most of its history. It prides itself on being a successor of the party that established the institutions of the State after the Civil War of 1922. It has formed coalition governments from time to time since the 1940s with the Labour Party but has never won power at two elections in a row.
Labour
The Labour Party is older than either Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael and will celebrate its 100th birthday next year. It was founded as the political wing of the trade union movement and has always been close to the unions. Labour has traditionally tried to represent the less well off in society.
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin was the political wing of the republican movement and refused to sit in the Dáil until 1997 when the peace process was well advanced. The party lays a heavy emphasis on nationalism and is strongly anti-British. It has also consistently opposed closer links with the European Union.
Green Party
The Greens are part of a worldwide movement that has focused on protecting the environment with particular emphasis on the issue of global warming.
HOW DO IRISH PARTIES COMPARE TO OTHERS IN WESTERN DEMOCRACIES?
The big Irish political parties are quite different from the European norm which places parties on a left-right spectrum. Socialist parties that believe in high state spending, a developed welfare system and high taxation to fund it are on the left, while conservative parties that emphasise individual rights, low taxation and less state spending are on the right. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would be in the centre of that spectrum with Labour on the left. In European terms,
Fine Gael is part of the moderately conservative European People's Party, while Labour is part of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament. Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin have links with smaller nationalist parties in Europe.
WHAT ABOUT OTHER PARTIES AND INDEPENDENTS?
Smaller left-wing parties like the Socialist Party that are highly critical of the capitalist system and the market economy are contesting the election as the United Left Alliance. Then there are some Independents who would be to the right of any of the Dáil parties while other Independents are running on purely local constituency issues.
WHAT IS THE CONTROVERSY OVER THE EU-IMF BAILOUT?
Because of the economic crash the country, the banks began to run out of money last year and were no longer able to borrow on the international money markets. The European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund stepped in with loans of over €80 billion but insisted on strict terms that involve a significant reduction in the amount of money being spent by the Government on State services, as well as an interest rate on repayments of 5.8 per cent.
Fianna Fáil and the Greens accepted the deal and began to implement it in a four-year plan announced at the end of November. Fine Gael accepts the four-year targets in the plan but wants to renegotiate elements of the deal. Labour wants the plan spread our over a longer period and also wants to renegotiate elements of it. Sinn Féin, the smaller left-wing parties, and some of the right-wing Independent candidates want to reject the deal altogether and refuse the money being put up by the EU-IMF fund.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THE NEW DÁIL MEETS?
The first item on the agenda when the 166 new TDs meet on March 9th will be the election of a ceann comhairle to preside over debates. He or she will then call for nominations for the post of taoiseach. The ceann comhairle won't have a vote in this election, unless there is a tie, so it will take 83 votes for a candidate for the office of taoiseach to be assured of a majority. If no single party has a majority, talks between the parties will take place after the election to see if an agreement can be reached on a choice for taoiseach and the composition of a new government. Over the past 30 years, two or even more parties have usually come together to form a coalition, as no one has won an overall majority since Fianna Fáil achieved it in 1977. In 2007, Fianna Fáil formed a coalition with the Greens.
WILL THERE BE A COALITION AFTER THIS ELECTION?
Before the election was called it was widely expected that Fine Gael and Labour would form a coalition in the aftermath as Fianna Fáil seem to have no chance of winning. However, Fine Gael seems to be doing much better than expected and might be in a position to form a government on its own or with the backing of the Greens and some Independents. Only after the votes are counted will it become clear if Fine Gael can do it on its own or whether it will need to cut a deal with Labour or one of the smaller groups. At that stage the relevant parties will try and negotiate a programme for government but they don't have much time as the new Dáil will meet on March 9th.