Fianna Fáil reduced to two deputies in online diaspora poll

AN online poll of Irish people forced to emigrate in the economic crisis has heaped further humiliation on Fianna Fáil. The emigrants poll, it emerged, would have returned just two of the party’s TDs to the Dáil.

The survey of 5,580 Irish people living in 124 countries showed they believed Ireland’s ousted main ruling party, FF, was solely to blame for the lack of opportunities and the crushing national debt in their homeland.

The first-of-its-kind poll — which used IP technology and passport details to prevent people in Ireland from voting or those abroad from taking part more than once — was carried out on www.ballotbox.ie over a 10-day period in late February.

And while the result has no official bearing on the real election, it has underlined the anger among the unheard victims of this country’s economic crisis.

If the poll was used to elect TDs to the 31st Dáil, Fine Gael and Labour’s combined real life results would have been matched, while Fianna Fáil would have almost completely disappeared on the national scene.

Fine Gael would have received 63 seats (30% of first preference votes), Labour a massive 51 (25%), Sinn Féin 23 (13%), Independent candidates 11 (18%), the Green Party 10 (8%), People Before Profit (2) and the Socialist Party (2).

Shockingly, the results show Fianna Fáil would have won just two seats (8%) — Micheál Martin and Brian Lenihan — a figure which means the organisation’s parliamentary party would no longer exist.

Despite their role in the previous government, survey respondents did not blame the Green Party for the economic crisis, with Dan Boyle, Trevor Sargent, Eamon Ryan and John Gormley among the 10 party members re-elected in the poll.

However, Independents like Michael Lowry would have been dumped out of Leinster House if the online election were to hold official sway, to be replaced by the likes of Mick Wallace, Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan and Catherine Connolly.

“Fianna Fáil received a resounding thumbs down from the Irish diaspora, retaining just two seats, while their coalition partners increased their Dáil representation,” explained www.ballotbox.ie spokesperson and Irish emigrant Brian Reynolds.

“The facts are these. Nearly 28,000 citizens left Ireland in the year ending April 2010 and at least 60,000 have left in the last three years,” he added.

* Full details of the poll results, including a constituency breakdown of the successful candidates, are available at www.ballotbox.ie