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The Daily PollWE’RE JUST TEN months on from the last general election – but, after such an inconclusive result, one in 2017 can’t be ruled out by any means.
The ‘confidence and supply’ agreement struck between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil following months of talks in the wake of February’s vote theoretically covers three budgets.
Technically, that means it’s a case of one down, two to go – but, to fall back on a cliché, a week is a long time in politics. So can the current Enda Kenny-led government last the year?
We want to know: Do you think there’ll be a general election in 2017?
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FF up 7 points in the latest poll. Another poll like this and they will pull the plug. They will pick an issue and say they can no longer stand by and watch the govt do this to the irish people and withdraw their support. Its all a farce. Nothing will change under FF. Not one thing.
That’s exactly what’ll happen.
@Seamus Og: Like nothing changed under FG as well, which is really sad…..
There’ll be no election until the New holders of high Office have served enough time to qualify for the big pension. Even FF won’t upset that understood convention. Might even be an unwritten part of the agreement.
@Seamus Og: ff will fool the gombeens one more time no doubt and they will deserve everything they get.
@bobby, if ff fool the gombeens it won’t just be the gombeens getting what they deserve.
2016 wasnt a good year for polls. Wouldn’t put too much faith in them.
None of the 2016 polls was far wrong. The same can’t be said for pundits and polemicists who chose to promote or believe only those polls that indicated small margins in favour of their prejudged position.
Not a chance there are to many hard decisions to be made this year eg hospitals,public sector pay etc ff will sit back until next year id say
Those hoping for an election, be careful what you wish for! Not much will change.
Like rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic.
The biggest issue in Irish politics is that far too many view democracy as being limited to elections with nothing in between. We should take a leaf out of the Icelandic book and be demanding more from our politicians. For far too long in Ireland we’ve heard overpaid politicians tell us how it will take time to achieve things. Well, how bleedin long will it take???? It’s already taken a long time to look at education, it’s already taken a long time to look at health and it’s already taken a long time to look at homelessness…. But not enough of us actually demand more from our politicians….
@Tony Canning: Indeed, or even a leaf out of the Canton system in Switzerland.
We need democracy and an election every now and then is not it
@Tony Canning: Time to look at the Bondholder Political Mentality.
…election or no election, it won’t solve anything, it’s still the same policies reworded and dribbling out of another set of overpaid liars’ mouths. Let’s just get the primates from the zoo and put them in Leinster House, it’d be more entertaining and probably more useful.
Can we educate and jog the populations memory before any election?
Hopefully
It all depends on Fianna Fails duplicity. They are waiting to see which way the wind is blowing. Kenny is happy to give all his lackeys a go at earning Ministerial pensions in the hope of buying loyalty. The ball is in Fianna Fails hands.They are shameless so who really knows.
I would like a General Election this year. – YES
To what end? DG back in feeling smug or ff back in? These are the 2 most likely scenarios.
Fg, not DG.
Possibly… But what difference will it make.. Musical chairs between same talentless, self serving party hacks. Dedicated to the party, big business and themselves and cronies of course.. I suppose we can hope Labour decline continues and in long term FF and FG also…. The more splintered the Dail is the better as a strong majority for any of these morons always wreaks havoc on the populace…
It’s the merry-go-round of madness. FF wreck the country, only FG can put it right. FG have brought us to the abyss, only FF can restore our fortunes… And so it has been since the foundation of the State. Like Lanigan’s Ball, “Johnny stepped out, and Jimmy stepped in again”… Those two greedy behemoths won’t be shifted from the feeding trough unless folk get off their holes and go out and vote for change. See what happens.
Hopefully. And hopefully FF will let their mask slip on the issue of water charges so the gullible will realise they’re being led up the garden path.
Infairness, SF wobbled on that issue before they cottoned on to the discontent in some of their heartlands.
They’ve blocked water charges in the north since 2007 and have never supported them here. If you’re going to use the phrase ‘in fairness’ please practice what you preach and acknowledge their decade of opposing the charge.
They’re in a so-called power-sharing administration up North, they have no real control over the economy there. This charade is on the brink of collapse. They also wobbled on the property tax issue. They do leave themselves open sometimes.
The administration has enough ‘real control’ to block water charges, the subject of our exchange…. http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/sf-and-dup-unite-to-prevent-introduction-of-water-charges-in-northern-ireland-35050248.html
@For Connolly: You’re the citing the Belfast Telegraph. Oh dear. This rag from the same stable as the sindo that you so often berate?
Just to clarify, are you claiming that SF and the DUP DIDN’T block water charges, as per the link above?
I’m claiming that SF are slowly but surely becoming part of the establishment. It’s an inevitable transition.
Other groupings remain anti-establishment, for better or for worse, and so it continues….
I hope so. The current bunch (FF and FG) can’t seem to fix anything. The problem is that they’ve hoodwinked the gullable older generation into voting for them. Then when they get elected, they’re clueless on what to do.
I really dislike FG and FF but the reality is the rest just want to be in opposition. Our system is broken and when next election is called most don’t know who to vote for as their choice will be established party for more of the same or one trick pony independent
My heart says Yes – My head says No.
Enda is immune to criticism so he’ll soldier on to the bitter end.
Initially the signs of an early election and a further erosion of Fine Tory looked promising but sadly the Independents have displayed a distinct lack of patriotism once they got their noses in the trough which is very disappointing. I would have more faith in the Home Sweet Home group than the likes of Katherine Zappone now.
Brendan Ogle is the real leader of this republic right now. The moral leader. The one man who has constantly focussed on the issues affecting our daily lives and offered us a viable alternative based on the principles of egalitarianism.
@Alex Falcone: A Alex you are having a laugh, Brendan Ogle the most self serving big mouthed populist out there . Why doesn’t he put his money where his mouth is and use some of his 80,000 ESB salery to help the homeless
This government is a disaster,not one competent minister.every department is in chaos.
Here’s hoping.
Another month of littering the country with posters and a further 3 months of every politican twiddling their thumbs watching their wages roll in to create the perception they aren’t too eager to jump into bed with the opposition all for what will essentially be the same result? No, thanks.
I would love to know, in total exactly how many days the TD’s worked last year, between, picking the parties, the ‘summer break’, and ‘Christmas break’, flying these gougers off to visit other countries (fair enough one or two Ministers, not the whole fúckíng lot of them!) you swear these lads are in secondary school not in charge of a country.
No chance of any election! Fine fail happy to continue to pull fine geals strings, fine geal happy to serve Europe and the elite while the people know no better. Both parties know if an election was called G Adams would step down p Doherty step in and sinn fein walk the election. Realistically we should join the pound and forget Europe as they don’t hold much in regard back for us.
@Sean Murphy:EirXIT
Is there any point, As long as farmers keep getting handouts from the EU and they keep their new rate of flat tax nothing will change.
@Enda Ireland: As a farmer, I can tell you that without the subsidies there would be no farmers at all. Margin is too low, its not the income, its the outgoing, they are huge.
No subsidies in the real world for the self employed.
Serious question. What are the general differences between ff and fg? Even historically. Both seem to be exactly the same
FG spend more in their suits, thats about it. I could post some other kinor differences but would probably be banned.
Can only hope so Enda and his cronies stumbling from one crises to the next is damaging the country. Just look at the homeless situation and the trolley crises no change in fact worse after Enda’s dead hand on the tiller for the last 5 years……
Apart from a recovering economy and more employment.
@HOTBank: Indeed is it 7000 now homeless and record numbers on trolleys in our hospitals? What do you consider as recovery?
@HOTBank: your living in denial.
@HOTBank: Shh… facts are inconvenient to the narrative that things are worse than ever.
Tons of comments saying “it won’t be any different”. I’m wondering what it would take to change that view. Who will come along to change that? Will it be an individual from within the political sphere with some respect for the dignity of people on trollies? Will it be an independent who tours beyond their own constituencies asking locals what their parish pump politician isn’t doing for them? Or will it be people actually taking democracy beyond election cycles?
Why nothing will change…..
We need leadership like Donald Trump to kichk some ass in the public service, get some houses built and lay on a decent transport system fit for the 21st century.
Bull. We need citizens to stop thinking democracy is defined by voting every few years.
I’m No fan of FF but a couple of people have said to me lately that they are thinking of voting for them, one never voted FF before, Basically what they said was they would ignore the money garbing, the cronyism, the leech like behaviour, the brown envelopes…….
Because they have a proving ability to do one thing,
Get houses built.
@P.J. Nolan:
That’s the one thing about Fianna Fail. They are very good at divvying out the proceeds to everyone’s satisfaction.
@Alex Falcone:
Unfortunately your right
Maybe FF were “good” at splashing a bit of excess gravy in the direction of the peasants from time to time and maybe they were “good” at getting houses built (no matter how self-serving that it was) we live in a different time now and there is no reason to believe they will do anything different to the current government.
Ask them about the ghost estates. The flooding. The substandard construction, the waivers on building codes, the radon, the pyrite, the lack of cover for purchasers once the developers have made their profits. The game has changed now that Ireland can’t afford what they built. Ask them about estimated life of current buildings. Maybe they might try thinking again.
Whether there is or is not an election, you stay at home and don’t vote. It is not a civic duty to vote and not compulsory. The candidates are all inept, enemies in public and buddies in private. We elected more independents last time but we still have Fine Gael holding finance and justice as they always did. The independents got the insignificant posts of transport, children and weather where they are out of harms way. This will happen again and again. So take no hand act or part in it. Deprive them of a mandate and never vote for the least worse candidate. Ignore them, stay at home and it will bring change in time.
@Val Martin: If you don’t vote, you have no voice. If everyone who didn’t vote turned out, every election could have a drastically different outcome.
Really Val? You will ensure that the party with the most activists gets elected. It is a civic duty to vote and a right for which our forebears shed blood.
@Val Martin:
Another strong candidate for dumbest comment to the day
I think it’s stupid to encourage people not to vote. It seems like a pathetic election based view of democracy. If someone chooses not to vote then I don’t think they deserve to be told they have no voice but to encourage someone not to vote…. To what end? Vote or don’t vote – but don’t tell anyone they can’t engage in democracy in between elections. It’s inaction between elections that we Irish distinctly lack and then moan that democracy is all about exercising your vote as if it’s no more than that.
@Paul Cunningham: For some maybe, during the last election after boundary changes we found ourselves in a new constituency voting for strangers. Since the election we haven’t seen sight or sound from our elected TD’s, wheras they appear to have abandoned us. This is not democracy and while the previous TD’s of all parties kwere less than useless at least we knew their names.
There are plenty of alternatives to ffg.
@Seamus Og:
If you don’t believe in hard left policies the options are pretty thin.
We can only hope but Merkel will win in the end if the 3 main parties get in?
We can’t afford another election but unfortunately the crowd in there at the moment have repeatedly ignored the people who voted them in. And as for the independents sure they’re not worth the paper they write on. They’ve realised its much easier and nicer to throw the sticks and stones then be the ones receiving them. But we have to take responsibility as well, if we’re going to continue voting in single agenda independents then the country hasn’t a hope and particularly with Brexit we need an experienced government whose sole commitment is getting the best deal for this country and not just a deal for Mrs Jones who lives in No. 47. Those days are gone now and we have to move on for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
The Independents have put the issue of ending cronyism in judicial appointments on the agenda. FF and FG colluding to block reform.
There is no excuse for anyone voting FF who ever saw a newspaper or had a real conversation in this country. They have duped the elderly and the native in regards to water charges and talked to Bertie .They are a cancerous growth on the political face of Ireland and nothing will change. Fg are a fully incompetent shower.
When you get right down to it a transfer of power to FF, or a coalition would result in little change. We have a corps of professional politicians from all parties where re-election trumps progress.
Once the fat cats have all negotiated their pensions there might bizarrely be talk of a fresh election. I despise FF butenda is running a country devoid of a mandate and is swimming against what i bet is enough greed on the part of FF. It really is sad to read international coverage of our elections,what an embarrassing collective our parties seem.
1 day after the pensions are in the bag the house (of cards) will collapse.
I don’t care.
Direct action like the Apollo House takeover in a variety of areas seems like the only way to get things done.
This Govt. will run its course because there’s too much coming down the line to be dealt with eg Brexit and Trump. If these issues prove difficult, then all the fallout will be dumped on the blueshirts to deal with.
No but I don’t think they will go the whole term. There seems to be a strategy of blaming Independents for stuff so that people won’t vote for them. Not working on me personally. The new politics is one where the Dail discusses stuff instead of ramming it through. Like.
have your say