How can the Single Party (FF) State be ended?

[farnaby]

Part 5: the People
8) A link has to be made in people's minds that voting FF for a 1,2,3 or 4 preference, in the locals, euros and by-election is a vote for Ahern's digouts, banker bailouts, corruption and cronyism, dodgy deals. An ABFF education shoudl be co-ordinated.

A vote for FF was, is and will be a vote for the benefit of FF and FF-approved sectors of irish society over the greater good of the nation. FG, Labour and other interested parties should lend support to an albeit separate ABFF organisation that operates during election campaigns to press home the facts about how bad FF has been for this country without the burden of having to provide alternative policies or claim better leadership. This sounds utterly negative i know but 30 years of corruption and me feinism has gone over the heads of at least 25% of the electorate and enough is enough.

Part 7: the FF state needs to be dismantled.

Radical electoral reform is essential. The concentration of power towards some wily local reps elevated by political appointment over talent - i.e. the government frontbench - must be changed; the seanad made more democratic and stronger or abolished; direct democracy initiatives must be implemented to raise political participation and action in Irish life.

[yehbut_nobut]

A vote for FF was, is and will be a vote for the benefit of FF and FF-approved sectors of irish society over the greater good of the nation. FG, Labour and other interested parties should lend support to an albeit separate ABFF organisation that operates during election campaigns to press home the facts about how bad FF has been for this country without the burden of having to provide alternative policies or claim better leadership. This sounds utterly negative i know but 30 years of corruption and me feinism has gone over the heads of at least 25% of the electorate and enough is enough.

I mentioned this ages ago, but worth bringing up again. Before the 1997 UK general election, an organisation was set up to advise people who to vote for in order to get the Tories out.

They did a constituency-by-constituency list of each candidate most likely to defeat every Conservative MP or candidate, based on up to date poll data. Result? Labour's landslide of 1997, (for good or ill) from which the Tories are only now starting to recover.

I remember at the time that someone here (think it was Sidewinder) said they'd be interested in a similar project here to get rid of Fianna Fail.

More complicated with STV of course, but do-able, surely?

[Digout]

More complicated with STV of course, but do-able, surely?

People need to be educated on how the voting system works, i.e. if they are part of the ABFF movement dont give them a preference.

[Liberal333]

I mentioned this ages ago, but worth bringing up again. Before the 1997 UK general election, an organisation was set up to advise people who to vote for in order to get the Tories out.

They did a constituency-by-constituency list of each candidate most likely to defeat every Conservative MP or candidate, based on up to date poll data. Result? Labour's landslide of 1997, (for good or ill) from which the Tories are only now starting to recover.

I remember at the time that someone here (think it was Sidewinder) said they'd be interested in a similar project here to get rid of Fianna Fail.

More complicated with STV of course, but do-able, surely?

Canada had a similar movement last time. ABC (anyone but Conservatives). The Tories were wiped out in Newfoundland, the only province where it had very high visibility....

[Digout]

I dont thing FG/Labour would have the balls to launch an ABFF campagin.

[anewbeginning]

It's quite simple.

If you want to put an end to the FF scourge, don't give any preference to any FF candidate.

We all know brainwashed Green party voters will put FF down as a second or lower preference though, that's what you are up against. They complain about over-development and it's impact on the environment and then support the main political party in government who are most responsible for it.

[Question R24U]

A vote for FF was, is and will be a vote for the benefit of FF and FF-approved sectors of irish society over the greater good of the nation. FG, Labour and other interested parties should lend support to an albeit separate ABFF organisation that operates during election campaigns to press home the facts about how bad FF has been for this country without the burden of having to provide alternative policies or claim better leadership. This sounds utterly negative i know but 30 years of corruption and me feinism has gone over the heads of at least 25% of the electorate and enough is enough.




Radical electoral reform is essential. The concentration of power towards some wily local reps elevated by political appointment over talent - i.e. the government frontbench - must be changed; the seanad made more democratic and stronger or abolished; direct democracy initiatives must be implemented to raise political participation and action in Irish life.

Amen, brother. The dearth of quality in our public reps is breathtaking. Taking Jim glenan as an example -why would anyone with real life experience bother to sit on the ff backbenches and see lesser people being appointed to ministries based on geography? Public reps do work hard - it is a shame that most of it is work councillors should be doing. The irish people have got into the bad habit of voting nationally in local elections but voting locally in national elections.

[slx]

One thing that parties need to make sure is that they get the vote out, particularly in the 'new urban' / 'rural sprawl' areas which have been really heavily hit by the recession.

Many people in those areas have been very apathetic in last few elections as things were going well and they were too 'busy' to bother voting.

[Question R24U]

I dont thing FG/Labour would have the balls to launch an ABFF campagin.

They pretty much did in the 1980s' although is was far less subtle:
- Anyone But Charlie.

[Tiernanator]

Stop trying to seek the demise of Sinn Féin would be one good way to prevent FF ruling forever. Many SF voters are soft on FF and Bertie Ahern to his credit recognised this. Hence his "moving north" stance. In the border counties especially FG are viewed as been slightly better than the Spanish Inquisition. Only slightly though and civil war politics are alive and well in many rural communties.

FF is a master of playing the opposition parties off against one another. They didn't really believe in the "we won't do a deal with SF" before the last general election but it was an excellent ruse that allowed them to make sure people didn't give SF transfers and therefore damage potential soft FF seats. If they had needed Sinn Féin they would have found some way to bring us into government. That is the strength of FF it mutates and changes to suit every situation. I don't admire their politics but I do admire their survival instinct. Perhaps if the rest of us in Irish politics had the same instinct we would spend less time on the opposition benches.