Sir, – The excellent Irish Times supplement “Vote 2019: How Ireland Voted” (May 28th) and subsequent ongoing election coverage make for fascinating but confusing reading. For instance, in the EU election Dublin constituency, the pattern of transfers between candidates who would appear to have little in common in the way of politics or policy raises the question as to what is in the minds of voters when they vote.
For instance, the distribution and recipients of Gemma O’Doherty’s (Independent) votes following her elimination shows that Clare Daly (Independents 4 Change) received an additional 1,411 votes and Lynn Boylan (Sinn Féin) 1,316.
By no stretch of the imagination could Gemma O’Doherty be described as a left-leaning candidate, so do female voters who voted for a female candidate also give their preferences to other female candidates, irrespective of their political leanings or policies?
Also in the same constituency, we have Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael) receiving a significant 1,466 votes from People Before Profit’s Gillian Brien following her elimination, and surely they are the most unlikely of political bedfellows?
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Is there some other deeper issue at play here? Do voters plump for personalities or gender over policy? – Yours, etc,
TOM FINN,
Ballinasloe,
Co Galway.