Intelligent Electorate.

[Spanner Island]

I for one am astonished at the astuteness of the electorate in the referendum. I wanted badly for both to fail but am happy the more relevant one has been defeated

How patronising are you?

Regardless, we were even more astute in the General Election...

[fionnmccool]

I always worry whenever some commentator on the news calls the electorate intelligent with smarmy flattery. They certainly cannot be well informed unless they put some work into it. Believing that some innate intelligence works to produce the best possible outcome every time encourages passivity and complacency in my opinion. Look at how many people do not vote at all. Intelligence is only worthwhile if it is used.

[BrightDay]

Would agree with that sentiment - in 2007 the turkeys voted for the party that promised to abolish Christmas.

That is most unfair on the electorate. The problem is that the electorate and those who are now in power (and also FF) did not have a clue that the "big bang" was coming. (SF may have known because someone might have phoned them up two hours before the election to tell them!).

FG and Labour portray themselves as having warned the public back in 2007 of what was on the cards. That is not true. They were on the gravy train then and they still are.

Gilmore, in particular, has a neck to complain about the pay of the ESB executive exceeding the salary while he pays his own advisors almost €60,000 more than the Department of Finance cap.

[Prester Jim]

I am hopeful that you are correct Uriah, but 2 things struck me when reading the stats.
1. The much higher proportion of urban voters that voted yes and no to the 2 refs.
2. The amount of voters who resolutely ignored the obvious about gallagher and voted for him anyway.

About 1 is it not interesting that urbanites were the ones that most strongly rejected FF at the last G.E.? Why the difference though? Are urban people better informed? Internet s available everywhere now so surely not. Are rural dwellers better "led" by their pols?