Irish Times daily website poll invites heated responses from Armenia to California
Ah, Liam from Armenia, where are you? This is the man who is regarded as the most frequent and opinionated contributor to the Irish Times Breaking News service daily poll.
The Breaking News service and its daily poll will be a year old this May, and it receives some 4,000 to 6,000 votes a day. About 400 to 800 people post their opinions on the subject of the poll each day, and many would be frequent users, their names known to those who visit the site regularly.
Such as Liam from Armenia.
Sadly, he did not reply to the e-mail I sent to a few regular contributors, looking for some background and opinions on the folk behind the names. Perhaps holidays beckoned for Liam. Or maybe he just wanted to retain a bit of mystique.
The daily question goes up on the web at 6.15 a.m. each day, and the poll closes at midnight. Questions tend to reflect topical, hard-news issues, although sometimes there are those put there for a bit of craic, such as "Do people keep New Year's resolutions?" and "Does International Women's Day achieve anything?"
This last invoked some hilarious responses, including the laconic: "Why not a good-looking women's day?" Several of the past polls are on the Breaking News archive site.
Recent questions asked included: Are drivers under 25 being victimised by insurance through high premiums?; Do you think the Government's attempts to curb smoking are effective?; Is St Valentine's Day merely an exercise in crass commercialism?; Is it time for another abortion referendum?; and Is the Citizen Traveller campaign succeeding in promoting understanding and acceptance of the Travelling community?
This last received so many offensive contributions that a Moderator's Note had to be posted on the site for the first and only time, explaining that many contributions couldn't be published "as they could contravene the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act, 1989".
"robertc, USA" in San Francisco is 42 and originally from Roscommon. He's been in the States since 1985, working as a molecular biologist, and thinks the poll question on the Citizen Traveller campaign was the most revealing to date. "It was interesting that many of the stereotypes and cliches hadn't changed since I was a child."
Apart from voting in the poll, he messages the poll site a few times a day, weaving in and out of the ongoing debate. "Usually I treat the question seriously even if I know nothing about the subject. I just enjoy expressing an opinion. Many of the questions are fairly specific to Ireland and I would rarely get a chance to voice an opinion about them here in the US."
He also notes: "Since we are not professional writers we often find it very difficult to express complex ideas in a clear way. Most of the flame wars on the poll result from this problem."
Some of the questions he'd like to see discussed are: Why doesn't Ireland have a rational policy for its military force?; and why do some Irish people react with such hostility to "minority" or "special interest" groups?
"Fintan, Netherlands" is 33 and moved there last year to work in an IT company. For him, logging on to the poll is a daily ritual. "I have a look several times a day. Most of the time you use it as a sort of cigarette break or coffee break. It can be a barometer of some people's views." He thinks the issues which most fire people up are abortion, religion, immigration, genetics, Northern Ireland, and Fianna Fail.
"My favourites are the moral ones where all sorts of extremists pop up. The morning is straighter talking, but as people settle into the day their replies become more extreme and funnier. I have an image of the regular contributors. I often wonder is it a true reflection of the personality of the regulars or are we just a bunch of alter egos escaping the tedium of working life?
"The site is enhanced by the same people popping in each day for a chat. I know I get on people's nerves by being over-opinionated, but it is only a bit of fun that can make you think as well. Certain personality traits come out online, just like normal day-to-day communication. But the question I ponder is: is it the real me, or some online persona?"
"Maureen, Barcelona" is 55, originally from Kilkenny, and has been in Spain for 25 years. She works in translation and would like to see a few questions posted that have a wider brief than Irish-only interest.
"Given the fact that around 60 per cent of us are regulars living abroad, perhaps we should have a few more international-interest questions. Sometimes it's difficult to answer domestic questions without first having to get into the newspapers," she suggests.
ONE of the regular non-nationals contributing to the poll is "Joachim Homola, Czech Republic" from Ceske Budejovice, one of very few to use their full name on the site.
"I am Czech, born and bred, but I have developed a great sympathy for Ireland in general. My dissertation was concerning the benefits of Ireland from EC/ EU membership as an example for the Czech Republic. I have been a member of the Czech Celtic Brotherhood, too. Peculiar about all this is that I have so far never been to Ireland," he explains.
The poll contributors never meet, but "you can make a picture of what other people's thinkings are. I came to like the comments of contributors with very different views of the world: Liam, Fintan, Bass, John, CP, Maurice, Niall."
Jochim thinks "These polls help to respect each other's opinions. I'm also glad that many people took the poll as how it should be taken at every stage: a source of fun. The begrudgers should always remember that the other contributors have no power whatsoever to change the situation in the world in the way that politicians do."
