Next Thursday, 24 May is general election day in Ireland. It takes place only days before the planning agency Bord Pleanala is due to render judgement on the proposed harbour development for our wee town.
The board held a second oral hearing into the plan a couple of months ago. All the usual suspects supported the plan then: the Fianna Fail party, now in government, and Fine Gael, their biggest opponents. The Labour and Green parties opposed it, as did the local activist organisation the GDPA. Some were silent, as they had been previously: government coalition partner the Progressive Democrats, Sinn Fein, and some independents.
Now we have only FF and FG supporting, with the local PD candidate stating his opposition along with the Sinn Fein hopeful. Independent candidate against the plan, Evelyn Cawley, claims to be doing well on her canvass.
So we wait with bated breath — will the 6,230 objections to the plan translate into votes against FF and FG? If voters here boycott Environment Minister 'Tricky' Dick Roche he could lose his seat, and his ministerial Merc. And that would be quite a message to Bord Pleanala, if they haven't already got it.
So let's go. Let's do it. Here's the slogan. ABT: Anyone But Tricky — and his mates.
For me, that means voting No 1 Cawley — because she's the Anti-Plan Candidate, single issue, so if you vote for her it's clear you are doing so because you're against the destruction of our picturesque and unique Victorian harbour area — and then going on to vote Green, Labour, 'People Before Profit' and Sinn Fein. Then I'll stop, because I can't bring myself to vote PD for any reason ('Progressive Democrats' is an Orwellian title for this crew) and in the Irish system if you use later preferences you could end up electing someone you don't want.
That's my advice, by the way: vote ONLY the anti-plan ticket and then STOP. Take no risks next Thursday...
The board held a second oral hearing into the plan a couple of months ago. All the usual suspects supported the plan then: the Fianna Fail party, now in government, and Fine Gael, their biggest opponents. The Labour and Green parties opposed it, as did the local activist organisation the GDPA. Some were silent, as they had been previously: government coalition partner the Progressive Democrats, Sinn Fein, and some independents.
Now we have only FF and FG supporting, with the local PD candidate stating his opposition along with the Sinn Fein hopeful. Independent candidate against the plan, Evelyn Cawley, claims to be doing well on her canvass.
So we wait with bated breath — will the 6,230 objections to the plan translate into votes against FF and FG? If voters here boycott Environment Minister 'Tricky' Dick Roche he could lose his seat, and his ministerial Merc. And that would be quite a message to Bord Pleanala, if they haven't already got it.
So let's go. Let's do it. Here's the slogan. ABT: Anyone But Tricky — and his mates.
For me, that means voting No 1 Cawley — because she's the Anti-Plan Candidate, single issue, so if you vote for her it's clear you are doing so because you're against the destruction of our picturesque and unique Victorian harbour area — and then going on to vote Green, Labour, 'People Before Profit' and Sinn Fein. Then I'll stop, because I can't bring myself to vote PD for any reason ('Progressive Democrats' is an Orwellian title for this crew) and in the Irish system if you use later preferences you could end up electing someone you don't want.
That's my advice, by the way: vote ONLY the anti-plan ticket and then STOP. Take no risks next Thursday...
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