Bid to up voter turnout in European polls
This is a massive attempt to change the fact that voting for MEPs tends to be the poor relation in the election calendar, not just in Ireland, but throughout Europe.
Ireland bucked the trend five years ago when the number casting their ballot increased, but the curve in the EU generally tends to be down, despite the massive change in the status of the Parliament and the increasing say it has in legislation affecting every facet of daily life.
The Parliament itself is putting a lot of effort into trying to generate interest in the election, launching a poster and information campaign throughout the 27 member states at a cost of€18 million. This includes a €90,000 campaign in Ireland focused on other EU citizens living in the country who can vote too in June and setting out the kind of issues the Parliament deals with.
In Ireland, the impact of the vote against the Lisbon Treaty and the pressure on people to change their mind in a second vote in October is helping to highlight the election. Voters who traditionally feel they can punish the government without creating any real problems for them could also swell the number of ballots cast as citizens take out their anger for the state of the economy on Fianna Fáil in particular.
The difficulties some parties are having in getting candidates and the internal rows in other parties have generated some interest in the fight for the country’s 12 seats, a cut of one, with each of the four constituencies having three seats.
Longford-Westmeath has joined the huge North-West constituency that now has counties from all four provinces, and it should be one of the most interesting this election.
With Seán O Neachtáin’s decision not to contest his seat on health grounds, Fianna Fáil has been desperately seeking a running mate to Leitrim man and former senator Paschal Mooney. Their best bet on retaining the seat lies with convincing Pat The Cope Gallagher to return to European politics from where he was snatched eight years ago to become fisheries minister – and his at the time unknown second, Galway’s O Neachtáin, inherited the seat. But that would leave the party with yet another by-election.
Fine Gael’s Jim Higgins is expected to top the poll, but the colour will doubtless be supplied by businessman Declan Ganley.
Mr Ganley’s massive roadside posters throughout the constituency promise new leadership, more jobs and an end to the economic crisis. Few candidates feel they have much to fear from such grandiose billing, but rather are more scared of the kind of mud-slinging tactics he and his fellow Libertas candidates have been engaging in on the ground.
Sitting independent MEP Marian Harkin has been a victim of such guerrilla-type attacks over abortion.
“They throw out these allegations not caring whether they are factual or not and leave you to defend yourself, while they move on to something else,” said Ms Harkin, who will battle to retain her seat against Mr Ganley’s efforts to galvanise the Catholic right.
Fianna Fáil has no problems in finding candidates in Munster where Brian Crowley could have been expected to get the biggest vote in the country for a fifth election in a row but has been joined by fellow Fianna Fáiler Ned O’Keeffe. Mr Crowley had almost enough votes in 2004 to be elected president, a post he aspires to. But a running mate was foisted on him following his row with Taoiseach Brian Cowen over moving the party from the UEN group of which he has been co-president for the past five years, to the larger Liberal group in the Parliament. But the Bandon man could still defy the anti-government backlash and head the poll.
His Fine Gael colleague, former Cork lord mayor Colm Burke, had similar problems when the party decided to run former GAA president and Kerryman Sean Kelly. Mr Burke, who lives part time in Kerry where his wife is a consultant, has spent just two years in the EP, having taken over the seat from Simon Coveney after the last general election and is hoping his experience might help cancel out Mr Kelly’s recognition factor in sporting circles.
The constituency where Fianna Fáil will be in most trouble will be Dublin, where Eoin Ryan holds the seat. Reducing from a four to a three-seater should normally not pose problems for the party, but in the current climate and given their decreasing support in the capital, few would place money on Mr Ryan retaining his seat.
Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald is battling hard to hold onto her seat. She is hoping her relatively high profile and headline-grabbing spats with other candidates will keep the focus off her poor attendance record in the Parliament over the past four years, due to maternity leave and her bid for a Dáil seat in 2007.
In Leinster, the unexpected decision of Fine Gael’s Avril Doyle not to run again has deprived the voters of a repeat of the 2004 titan clash between Ms Doyle, one of the Parliament’s hardest workers, and her fellow party member, the very capable Máiréad McGuinness. Senator John Paul Phelan is not expected to produce the same high-tension campaign this time around, though he just could tip Labour’s Nessa Childers to a seat. Fianna Fáil’s Liam Aylward is expected to retain his.
Over the next few weeks the Irish Examiner will be reporting on the past performance of the MEPs, the attitudes of candidates, where the parties stand and exactly what the new batch of MEPs will be deciding on your behalf as well as following the day to day battle on the ground.
We will also tell you what exactly an MEP earns and about their expenses, how you can find out how they vote and whether they influence what happens in Europe.
