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TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has told Fine Gael TDs senators and MEPs to get ready for the four by-elections which will be held at the end of November.
In a letter sent to party colleagues last night, Varadkar said that only one of the seats is guaranteed for Fine Gael.
The date of the elections in Wexford, Dublin and Cork is mooted for 29 November, however none was specified in the letter.
The Taoiseach communicated the November date to a number of opposition party leaders in a meeting on Monday evening.
The reason four by-elections are being held is due to four sitting TDs being elected to the European Parliament in May’s elections.
The four sitting TDs who were elected to the European Parliament were: Frances Fitzgerald (FG) – Dublin Mid-West Clare Daly (I4C) – Dublin Fingal Billy Kelleher (FF) – Cork North-Central Mick Wallace (I4C) – Wexford.
In his letter to Fine Gael colleagues, Varadkar said it is “very rare” for parties in government to win by-elections, however he maintained they had good candidates.
In a rallying call to his members, just a week after he said he wants a general election in May 2020, the Taoiseach said:
We are neck in neck [sic] with Fianna Fáil in the polls.
He added: “Opposition is far easier than government but it is not a fraction as rewarding. We have done so much and taken the country so far forward. We cannot allow it to slip backwards, or allow others to undo the progress we have made. And, we have much more to do.”
Spurring on TDs, Varadkar said whether Fine Gael is successful “is largely up to all of us”, he said.
In terms of party funding, he said Fine Gael needs to replace funds that were depleted in the local and European elections, and also said more money will have to be spent on the upcoming by-elections.
To increase cash funds, he encouraged politicians to attend upcoming fundraising events, stating that they should attend at least one.
The Taoiseach also told his party members that they have to show up for votes in this term, stating:
“We lost a few votes in the last session that we should not have.”
He said reversing parliamentary defeats is time-consuming and “is not always possible”.
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An electric fence to stop swimmers going in would probably be more effective!
Doubt it, humans are pretty dumb
Unprecedented for sharks to attack you in their home!! Their bloody home. Sharks never attack anything dry. Remember that.
Increased shark attacks are a good indicator of over-fishing. This is a band-aid solution to a much bigger problem that is being ignored.
Feed the sharks. Let them know it’s Christmas time.
Dame sharks looking for meal how dare they!
Rule should be simple, enter the water and you make yourself shark bate end of, no one else’s fault when you lose your limbs
What’s a Dame shark? One that’s received an order of the British Empire?
Aren’t selfie-sticks even more dangerous?
Australia (or anyone else) has no right to “get tough with sharks”. FFS. The oceans are their element – they can exist nowhere else. They are an essential part of the chain of life and they’re being slaughtered in their millions because of a stupid film, and Chinese superstition. Swim in a bleedin’ pool if you’re too warm, Ozzies, or take to the sea when there are no sharks present. Also, cut down on the over fishing – everything in the ocean is hungrier than ever because we are sweeping it of all food sources..
Has anyone even considered sending some Marines in to infiltrate and bite the sharks?
Funny, reading this you’d think its a mass shark feeding frenzy out there. But I was down at bondi beach yesterday and as usual there were about 100 surfers in the water. They don’t seem too bothered. Wouldn’t get me in there though, fook that. Maybe I need to stay off the journal for a while..
Sharks are massive, unpredictable and have big teeth. All makes for good news. Hundreds of thousands of Australians enjoy the water every week without being attacked. Things that people fear and things that are likely to kill them are very different things.
Turning the sea into a zoo they are.
Erm. . The sharks are doing the same thing they’ve been doing for around 450 MILLION YEARS.. they’ve been on the planet longer than humans and survived 5 mass extinctions, yet now in 2015 they’re suddenly the bad guys becsuse idiots can’t leave them to their natural habitat.
The chances of having an encounter with a shark are slim to none. You enter the water at your own risk.
Forgive me for going off topic, but wow, what a picture. Great snap. That seal must have more lives than a cat.
Get out of the water!!
Poor Jaws gets a bad rep..It’s not the worst of the bunch. http://m.thenewdaily.com.au/news/2015/06/26/deadliest-australian-animals/
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