FINE GAEL will effectively begin its general election campaign today with what it has claimed will be the biggest consultation exercise to date with the Irish electorate.
The party will shut down its main website – containing hundreds of pages – and replace it with a website consisting of a single page containing a video message from party leader Enda Kenny and an invitation to voters to share their views on policy and the future of Ireland.
The party said it was “a genuine attempt to start to change the way politics in Ireland works”, using methods modelled on those of former British prime minister Tony Blair and of Barack Obama during his US presidential campaign.
Fine Gael was portraying the move as the first time that interactive technology had been used to such an extent in an Irish election, it said. The views of voters would be incorporated into the party’s policies.
The party’s environment spokesman Phil Hogan said yesterday it was the opening salvo of Fine Gael’s election campaign. “Fine Gael wants to start this election period in the right way. That means listening to rather than talking to the public.
“It can no longer be about old-style party politics. It is about pulling together as a country to get the best ideas and people involved in solving our country’s problems.”
In his video message, Mr Kenny says: “One of the great failings of politicians is they talk too much and do not listen enough.
“What I am going to do now is to stand down the Fine Gael website for a number of weeks and I am going to replace it with a facility that will allow people to send in their complaints, ideas and proposals about what we should do.”
Once the site is up and running, a screen ticker will track views sent in by people.
The party’s full website will be reconstituted later in the month once the exercise has been completed. Fine Gael’s campaign strategists have been working on the idea for several months. It has emerged from focus-group research which showed that there was a widespread feeling among the electorate of a disconnect between political parties and citizens.
The research also reflected a strong desire among voters for political reform.
A campaign to encourage feedback and interaction from voters was launched in Britain in 2003 by then prime minister Tony Blair. The governing Labour Party’s “Big Conversation” intended to engage people about the political choices facing Britain.
Mr Blair said it was the “biggest ever consultation exercise” in Britain.
Some policies, including anti-social behaviour orders, originated during the 12-month exercise, but the feedback was heavily edited and was criticised by opposition parties in Britain as a gimmick.