A website which allows local and European election candidates to post information online and interact with the public was launched today.
MiCandidate.eu hosts biographical and policy information on candidates and enables the public to lobby politicians on electoral issues or to donate funds.
The company, which was founded in 2007, has published profiles of almost 1,500 local election candidates in Ireland alone and has listed over 90 per cent of European election candidates in the UK.
A further roll-out to the remaining 25 EU member-states is planned by the time the European elections take place in June.
Chief executive and founder of miCandidate.eu Paddy Cosgrave said the idea was to build “a global interface between people and their politicians”.
Mr Cosgrave said he hopes the company will expand into other territories following the June elections.
The company currently employs 10 full-time staff and carries out its own research on each candidate, allowing them to add further content for a fee.
It is envisaged that single-issue groups will be able to publish information on the website in the coming months. Candidates would have the facility to associate with single-issue groups.
Candidates who wish to build their online profile to include additional biographical information and election material are charged an initial €249 set-up fee and a further €35 per month for local election candidates and €99 for European candidates.
Under the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009 the amounts spent by candidates are limited to between €15,000 and €9,750.
The limits imposed begin within 60 days of an election and are based on the population within each electoral area.
