Presidential Election

[Broken Wing]

Dana - Cant believe the country needs to be lead by such an obviously religious person with all the abuse reports published and the fact that the Vatican as a Nation has been lambasted by the Toiseach and others.

Dana is almost as religious as Gay Mitchell.

[fourthirtythree]

Dana - Cant believe the country needs to be lead by such an obviously religious person with all the abuse reports published and the fact that the Vatican as a Nation has been lambasted by the Toiseach and others.

Dana is almost as religious as Gay Mitchell.

I'm sure neither of you actually have a problem with a religious person being president? As long as they agree with the (rather minimal in current Irish interpretation and as mandated by our constitution) seperation of church and state they can be catholic, muslim, mormon, or protestant no matter what crimes were committed by their co-religionists.

Having a problem with Dana and Gay Mitchell is to do with them, rather than the fact they are catholic, the fact that they clearly are incapable of distinguishing between politics and religion. With Norris I really do think the majority of people who don't support him don't have a problem with him being gay (as I don't think people imagine he'll be using the trappings of the office - or the official car or whatever - to trawl for sex) but rather to do with his ideas about the legal age of consent. Which are surely relevant. Oh and "my lawyer won't let me publish these letters" is a Bertie Ahern type excuse. You hire your lawyer, not the other way around.

[Broken Wing]

Dana - Cant believe the country needs to be lead by such an obviously religious person with all the abuse reports published and the fact that the Vatican as a Nation has been lambasted by the Toiseach and others.

Dana is almost as religious as Gay Mitchell.

I'm sure neither of you actually have a problem with a religious person being president?

Of course not. I have a problem with either Dana or Gay Mitchell being president though so I'll be voting for someone else. Looking at all the candidates Michael D may just win by default.

[TerenureJim]

Personally I'm feeling....



and am just waiting for some honesty from the candidates

[sarah_lennon]

Never liked Michael D all that much but shaping up to be the best of a bad lot.

What a shambolic line up. Can we not just have a referendum and let Mary Mc stay on full time

If it's a referendum you're having, let's just get rid of the role and the Seanad while you're at it

Don't know why we're deluding ourselves that we govern anything tbh

[Broken Wing]

Never liked Michael D all that much but shaping up to be the best of a bad lot.

What a shambolic line up. Can we not just have a referendum and let Mary Mc stay on full time

If it's a referendum you're having, let's just get rid of the role and the Seanad while you're at it

Don't know why we're deluding ourselves that we govern anything tbh

Only if we can cut the number of TDs as well.

[Scott]

but rather to do with his ideas about the legal age of consent.

Which are what?

[olaf the fat]

Never liked Michael D all that much but shaping up to be the best of a bad lot.

What a shambolic line up. Can we not just have a referendum and let Mary Mc stay on full time

If it's a referendum you're having, let's just get rid of the role and the Seanad while you're at it

Don't know why we're deluding ourselves that we govern anything tbh

Its not about governance, its about who gets the best seat in Lansdowne and Croker for the next seven years!

[olaf the fat]

but rather to do with his ideas about the legal age of consent.

Which are what?

We will never know, because all he does is quote Joyce, Wilde or his lawyers when asked a question.

At this stage, I just hope there is a "quick pick" option on the ballot paper

[tate]

Anyone listen to Norris on Newstalk? He was/is all over the shop - all bluster and no substance.

[berniemac67]

Christ I think this will get worse then the O'Gara/Sexton debate

at least the o'gara/sexton debate has a point

[fourthirtythree]

but rather to do with his ideas about the legal age of consent.

Which are what?

It's difficult to tell but they appear to be nuanced, and my point had to do with the majority of the Irish electorate: I don't think they approve of nuanced ideas relating to ages of consent. It's not something I've given any real thought to myself. Perhaps when my children are teenagers I will have strong opinions.

And weaseling out of elucidation by passing the buck to his lawyer doesn't win him any friends either.

Oh, as a minor aside, not voting for him has the bonus of getting Eoghan Harris' back up. Anybody supported by him (whether it be rump Stalinism or Bertie Ahern) is automatically questionable.

[gfo]

but rather to do with his ideas about the legal age of consent.

Which are what?

It's difficult to tell but they appear to be nuanced

They are in their hole nuanced. His view is that if two guys are going at it, no one can get pregnant, so there's nothing wrong with it. And then when he gets repeatedly criticised for his views, he comes out with some mealy-mouthed apology and expects everyone to let it go.

[Oldschool]

Having rushed in to declare my intention to vote for Martin McGuinness, I decided I had better do a bit of research just in case I had missed something.
So by a process of elimination I was left with only two candidates standing. Namely Dana or Martin.
My reasoning is as follows.
Gallagher - FF associations.
Davis - Bertie associations - Even worse.
Higgins - Just don't like him and he's party political.
Norris - Why risk it?
Mitchell - Don't want a party political president.

Which leaves.
Dana - Her stance on Pro Life stuff is way too right wing for me, if I'm being honest. However she does have the courage of her convictions.
and she's non-party.
McGuinness - Doesn't tick too many boxes either, but something about the man appeals to me. He is however party political

Gawd I hate difficult decisions.

[TerenureJim]

McGuinness - Doesn't tick too many boxes either, but something about the man appeals to me. He is however party political

Gawd I hate difficult decisions.

Well being a rugby fan you probably do like violence so I guess he has that in common

[berniemac67]

They are in their hole nuanced. His view is that if two guys are going at it, no one can get pregnant, so there's nothing wrong with it. And then when he gets repeatedly criticised for his views, he comes out with some mealy-mouthed apology and expects everyone to let it go.

nice analysis, taking all the nuances into consideration before reaching a conclusion

[Peg Leg]

Having rushed in to declare my intention to vote for Martin McGuinness, I decided I had better do a bit of research just in case I had missed something.
So by a process of elimination I was left with only two candidates standing. Namely Dana or Martin.
My reasoning is as follows.
Gallagher - FF associations.
Davis - Bertie associations - Even worse.
Higgins - Just don't like him and he's party political.
Norris - Why risk it?
Mitchell - Don't want a party political president.

Which leaves.
Dana - Her stance on Pro Life stuff is way too right wing for me, if I'm being honest. However she does have the courage of her convictions.
and she's non-party.
McGuinness - Doesn't tick too many boxes either, but something about the man appeals to me. He is however party political

Gawd I hate difficult decisions.

Its not too dificult OS, McGuinness is the only candidate that has absolutely no clue as to what most think here in the republic- as demonstrated by his West Brit comment.
Whilst I understand the mans reasoning for his involvement in the troubles, I resent the fact that he believes and infers that he was doing it for me.

I can't say I'm toO fond of any of the candidates, but I will vote for whowever talks the least shite and at least expresses a decent knowledge of what the job is actually about.

[bootlace]

Sadly as I can't have a vote even though I have a passport and was born in Ireland ,I still have to ask the reason why have a president,is it not best just to vote for the person with the biggest handshake and widest smile,seems to me a waste of time and effort,but probably more important a waste of money.Then it just could be one of those opportunities that make the nominees seem important.Do an x factor type thing but for everybody sakes just leave it alone,step away unless you are a manufacturer of red carpets.

[tate]

Interesting article in today's paper http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opi ... 84883.html

[MarkyDeSad]

Old School wrote:

McGuinness - Doesn't tick too many boxes either, but something about the man appeals to me. He is however party political

...also the only candidate to have experience of commanding an army, but apparently he's a piss poor shot.