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ROSCOMMON SOUTH-LEITRIM has come in for some criticism this weekend after it was the only constituency in Ireland to vote against the marriage equality referendum.
It led to a raft of criticism online for the region, which voted 51.42% to 48.58% against Friday’s referendum.
June Shannon / Twitter
June Shannon / Twitter / Twitter
Sober Lane / Twitter
Sober Lane / Twitter / Twitter
Helen O'Rahilly / Twitter
Helen O'Rahilly / Twitter / Twitter
Author Marian Keyes tweeted, then deleted and apologised for this tweet:
All of this criticism comes despite the fact that more people voted Yes in Roscommon-South Leitrim (17,615) than in both Donegal North-East (16,040) and Donegal South-West (15,907) and that fewer people voted No in Roscommon-South Leitrim than in 13 constituencies.
Indeed, Donegal South-West went Yes by just 33 votes.
So why?
So why did the region go No? In an impassioned defence of his region, RTÉ presenter Paddy McKenna said it was a “disconnect” between what was happening in Dublin and the area.
Screwed over by government on issues like healthcare access, job creation and clean drinking water, these are not people who deserve that treatment.
Having canvassed voters’ opinions in the area in the run up to Friday, I noticed there was a disconnect with the Yes campaign and message that I hadn’t encountered in Dublin. Many rural people felt talked down to and alienated.
They felt shouted at. They got left behind by the Yes campaign which is worth reflecting on. A good example of the kind of polarising, elitist, ‘us and them’ attitude that divides rural and urban people.
One political figure in the area felt locals felt “ignored” in the run-up to the referendum and that possibly turned voters off.
However, independent councillor Laurence Fallon says it wasn’t a protest vote and that people should not be criticised for exercising their democratic rights.
I think it’s wrong to criticise people for the way they vote. In a democracy, people vote whatever way they think. I don’t think people voted in protest.
There are certainly occasions that happens, but I don’t think they did this time.
Form and culture
Since its formation, the constituency has only voted no on the referendum on Oireachtas inquiries, voting Yes to abolish the Seanad, pass the Fiscal Stability Treaty, pass the Children’s Rights Act, establish the Court of Appeal and allow the government alter judges’ pay.
Culturally, it is a rural constituency that is overwhelmingly Catholic and has the oldest population in the country. While yesterday taught us not make too broad an assumption based on those things, the demographics meant that the constituency would always be close.
Fallon says a major problem in the constituency, not just in terms of the referendum vote, is the exodus of young people. Just 13% of all college graduates from Roscommon get their first job in the county.
Instead of condemnation, Kieran Rose of Glen today spoke of the “fantastic” work put in by Yes campaigners in the area to attain the number of votes they did.
Fallon agrees and says that the county “has a lot going for it” beyond the politics of Friday.
“But it needs job creation to help it keep its young people.”
First published 16.00pm Additional reporting Christina Finn.
Received in applications…
But what was granted?
Not a great press release if you ask me.
Usually they whittle it down to 100 then to 10 and give out 8: thus by their reckoning they approve of 80% !!!!
€264 million?
That’s about 40 or 50 ”sneaky” mortgages for Bank Of Ireland’s family members and their crony chums to buy up prime repossessed properties in Dublin 4,
probably from Bank Of Ireland’s ”squeaky clean” receiver buddies.
Is this where all the bail out money (that you took from the taxpayer) is going?
Back to the good old days BOI?
Crony Banking.
Starve your existing mortgage customers and push them over the edge by increasing your interest rates?
While at the same time you are dishing out the loan offers on soft terms to your golfing buddies down at the 19th hole?
Maybe if they gave a figure of approvals rather than applications they might be able to claim “Support and commitment to the Irish market”. As it stands the statement holds absolutely no value. They may as well have said 1 trillion euro.
Yeah,how many mortgages will they actually pass?the banks brought us down yet we bail them out and they wont help us out..
And they have sanctioned just under zero of them…..
Paddy power should run a bet in how many new mortgages the banks have funded- I woul bet less than 100 standard mortgages. These guys are not in the mortgage business right now yet will push people through the hoops only to refuse thematic the last minute. In some way it would be immoral to lend money for a mortgage right now as the taxpayer is sponsoring the banks. Mind you the banks keep giving away money to sporting events for sponsorship -,this gives the guys at the top a nice corporate box to watch the games from while being served a nice wine and some finger food. God help them they need to relax some of the time with all the stress and strain on them at reduced salary to only 600k or 700k.
Should the government not be doing more to encourage people to rent rather than this obsession a lot of Irish people seem to have with owning their own home.
There is nothing wrong with retaining our home ownership culture. France has the highest rate of second home ownership in the world and it is not considered a problem. what is wrong with home ownership in principle? It leads to better maintained property in general, as owner occupiers are more likely to carry out repairs on their own houses than tenants.
There is also a shortage of rental properties on the market, especially anything a family can live in. Most are aimed at students or young couples. It would take a generation to change that rental stock.
What would be the point in encouraging people to rent something that does not even exist?
So the only irish bank lending money is the one NOT owned by the government….
Where did boi get the 1.5 billion euro fund from in the first place & did they just announce losses of 180 million or similar last week on Their track record how are they allowed a banking licence
Where is the choice for consumers I think most people would move their mortgages to a clean new bank that’s not connected to the government and not for profit .
A book loss isn’t necessarily a cash loss. The bank can lose 180 million from devaluing impaired assets while still having positive cash-flow.
It’s good news folks! They’re admitting at last they have (our) money to lend. Let’s all go ask for a loan and report back how many of us get it. The fraud and banking conspiracy continues.
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