Campaign Watch »

• Bertie dances to a different tune

  June 3, 2009 @ 9:24 am | by Kilian Doyle

  Our esteemed former taoiseach Bertie Ahern was never renowned for his grasp of grammar. Indeed, he gave George W. Bush a run for his money in terms of mangling the English language.

  It appears little has changed since he trundled off into semi-retirement. He has been shoving leaflets through letterboxes in Dublin Central exhorting punters to vote for Fianna Fail candidates, including his brother Maurice, on Friday.

  As you can see from this leaflet uncovered by Rick O’Shea, not only has he fallen into the “bye-election” trap, but he is under the impression candidates will be dancing for their suppers on June 5th and voters will have to mark their scores on “ballet” papers. Oh dear.

  

  In fairness to Bertie, it’s probably a minion’s fault. Still, that’s not going to stop us from “throwing white elephants and red herrings” about, as he might say himself.

• Online campaigning – a candidate’s view

  June 2, 2009 @ 2:21 pm | by Kilian Doyle

  Stephen O’Shea is a candidate in the Dundrum ward for Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council.

  He started his campaign late, with virtually no budget. As an experiment, he embraced online media, such as his blog, Twitter, Google et al and has erected no posters, preferring to use a Flickr account instead.

  In this post on his blog, he gives a candid critique of the impact of the use of online tools on his election chances.

  He reveals that while his first tentative steps into world of blogging and Tweeting  have been a useful education for him, their impact has been minimal. ”Will I pick up any extra votes? Not enough to justify the effort.”

  In other words, it’s largely been a waste of time. We here are inclined to agree. We’ve said it before, and we’ll no doubt say it again, but there is no substitute for pressing the flesh.

• Most unfortunate slogan of the campaign?

  @ 9:06 am | by Kilian Doyle

  Independent Limerick County Council candidate Richie Smith (48) urges the electorate to “cut the bull” in this recent newspaper ad.

  As Limerick Blogger points out, this is a “poor choice of words” considering his conviction earlier this year for cruelty to animals “of the most appalling kind”.

  

  Meanwhile, someone’s been having fun with the world’s cheapest computer graphics programme and a Commodore 64. The results are, predictably, awful.

  

• Equality of the sexes

  May 28, 2009 @ 1:40 pm | by Kilian Doyle

  We’ve had a bit of grief over our previous post about the foxiest female election candidates.

  While it was clearly intended to be a light-hearted post highlighting the sad fact that many people vote with bits of their anatomy other than their brains, some readers failed to see it like this and asked would we treat men the same way.

  The answer, as you can see below, is yes.

  Others called for the balance to be redressed by the publication of a similar photomontage of handsome male candidates. Again, their wish is our command.

  Before any of these five fine things get too big for their boots, we must point out that this is most certainly not a definitive list. We just pestered a few female colleagues, one of whom, as you can tell, has a thing for the unshaven look.

  

  L-R John Lyons (Labour), Ross O’Mullane (Independent), Hugh Lewis (People Before Profit Alliance), Eoghan Murphy (Fine Gael), Ronan Callely (Fianna Fail)

  Everyone happy now?

  campaignwatch@irishtimes.com

• Putting candidates out to seed

  @ 8:17 am | by Kilian Doyle

  A ”guerilla” gardener and a user of unitedminds.ie, the website of Independent South Dublin byelection candidate Ross O’Mullane, has proposed a new use for election posters.

  Mick Veale says the public can make use of pesky political posters by repurposing them from unwanted litter into very dashing window boxes. He has even provided a photo tutorial of how he lit up his windowsill with the creations, which won him a discount at a DIY outlet.

  When contacted to see if removing a poster was an offence, the Department of Environment said it was a matter for its colleagues in the Department of Justice, who in turn said it was a matter for environment.

  Despite his background in marketing, O’Mullane has not opted to erect posters or canvass; instead he is using his website to engage voters as he believes online politics is very much the future. “All the other guys are promising to respray the car, but what I’m saying is that we need to change what’s under the bonnet,” he said.

  

• It is a beauty contest after all

  May 27, 2009 @ 1:40 pm | by Kilian Doyle

  Forget the actual election results. The results that really matter are in.

  According to a poll conducted online by Boylesports, the foxiest candidate running for election this year is… Labour’s Dublin City Council hopeful Maria Parodi.

  Sinn Féin’s blonde bombshell Toiréasa Ferris is beaten into third place by Fianna Fáil’s Sarah Ryan, while Clare Byrne of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil’s Catherine Ardagh trail in fourth and fifth place respectively. Dan Boyle didn’t get a look in. We suspect a fix.

  The findings also reveal 43 per cent of respondents believe a candidate’s appearance would influence their decision, with over a third saying they would vote for someone solely based on how they looked. 

  Which we find really, really sad. For what died the sons of Roisín? Was it the right to choose to be represented by someone just because they’ve got white teeth and a makeover?

  
  L-R Maria Parodi (Lab), Sarah Ryan (FF), Toiréasa Ferris (SF), Clare Byrne (FG), Catherine Ardagh (FF)

• Video niceties

  @ 9:23 am | by Kilian Doyle

  The Green Party have finally released their European election video, which we left out of our previous post on such broadcasts because it wasn’t ready.

  It features clips of well-schooled and well-intentioned punters – including some dude single-handedly holding up a windmill – explaining why the Greens are good for jobs, overlaid with the sound of a folksy acoustic guitar being strummed gently. So far, so good.

  But then it goes all schmaltzy and becomes another tearjerker, heavy on the “doing it for the kids” message. The insinuation is that if you don’t vote Green, your children and grandchildren will grow up foraging in feral packs in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. So there.

  

  Meanwhile, the campaign of Fianna Fáil’s Dublin candidate Lord Mayor Eibhlin Byrne has gone to the dogs.  Wonder how long it will take for Sam’s face to replace his owner’s on her posters?

  

  campaignwatch@irishtimes.com

• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (in no particular order)

  May 25, 2009 @ 10:58 am | by Kilian Doyle

  Here’s quick round-up of some of our favourite election posters out there.

  First, Socialist Party European candidate in Dublin, Joe Higgins, “The Best Fighter Money Can’t Buy”. We hear he has a very strong left. 

  

  (Photo by Editor Tupp)

  Keeping it simple, Mannix Flynn, running for Dublin City Council, has opted for two-tone, minimalist chic. His slogan is “Don’t do the same things expecting a different result”, which is head and shoulders above most of the dross spouted out by the main parties. We wish him luck.

  

  The lucky people of Co Offaly have the privilege of opting – should they wish – to vote for the singing auctioneer/farmer, Independent “Man of the People” John Bracken, who wouldn’t look out of place in the Fureys.

  

  Not to be outdone by that other golden-voiced son of Clara, Brian Cowen (see video below), John has recorded a few political ditties of his own. Go here and here to hear them. His marvellous  There’s Too Many TDs Sitting In The Dáil is on repeat on the CampaignWatch MP3 player.

  

  Finally, words almost fail us. This is easily the most bizarre election-related installation we have ever seen. Ever.

  (Insert lame puns here about drumming up support, keeping abreast of the issues and turkeys voting for Christmas.)

  

  (We really wish this photo had been taken by Maman Poulet, but are grateful to Editor Tupp nonetheless)

  campaignwatch@irishtimes.com

• Ryan bandwagon lurches through Edinburgh

  @ 9:03 am | by Kilian Doyle

  You may have read in today’s Irish Times that “election” posters featuring Ireland and Leinster centre Gordon D’Arcy were spotted outside the RDS at the weekend.

  They urge punters to give D’Arcy, of the Blue Party, their number one vote “for Wexford and for Leinster”.

  

  Despite the remarkable similarity of the posters to those of a certain Government party, the Greens have denied involvement. D’Arcy’s possible political ambitions remained a mystery last night.

  One man whose ambitions are loud and clear is Fianna Fáil MEP Eoin Ryan, who was out in force in Edinburgh last weekend.

  “Rugby supporters’ attempts to forget about politics over the weekend – outside the Leinster-Munster peace process – were thwarted by a truck bearing a giant poster driving in the vicinity of Murrayfield stadium,” a mole writes. Sadly, as our informant – a Munster fan with nothing better to do on a Saturday – was far too busy hiding his face in his hands to tackle a camera, no photo was forthcoming.

  Nice try, Ryaner.

  campaignwatch@irishtimes.com

• Smile over substance

  May 23, 2009 @ 11:01 am | by Kilian Doyle

  Our esteemed colleague Shane Hegarty has a fine column here questioning the value of election posters and their vacuous  slogans.

  “In this campaign, so far at least, most posters have retreated into banality,” he writes. “There has been little to stop you mid stride, to challenge you, to frighten you, to outrage you. Perhaps it’s a reflection of the campaign, of the nature of the contest. It’s more likely that it’s a reflection of the candidates and the anodyne nature of modern campaigning; of saying everything but meaning nothing.”

  What do you think? Are posters a waste of time? Do they tell us anything about a candidate other than what s/he looks like and – in most cases - what party they represent?

  campaignwatch@irishtimes.com

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