Rambling on the radio

I’m still in a state of shock. Although it could be the antibiotics I’m taking for my throat infection. Someone from WLR called me this afternoon about my last political blog entry. Apparently I’m convincing the impressionable young voters of Waterford to spoil their votes. Well, I think I overdid the “it’s ironic of course” schtick in the interview but I’m still a little bemused that enough people are reading my blog to make it news worthy and that anyone thought it wasn’t a humorous if slightly jaundiced view of Waterford electioneering.
To give the post it’s context, it came about from many discussions with colleagues and friends about the upcoming election. It’s fair to say that most aren’t enthused about any of the candidates and even less impressed by their election claims and promises. There’s also the depressing feeling that if we don’t have a minister we’ll be ignored for another 5 years so needs must … All the evidence points to this being true and if WLR want to run a feature on this I’ll surely give them a hand. They should also give Cian “WellBoy” Foley a call as he’s sure to have an opinion or 20.
So why are “yoof” so jaded with the current elections? Perhaps it’s the essentially bi-partisan hegemony of governance in Ireland. To use an analogy it’s like saying we can have spaghetti on toast or beans on toast for another 5 years. We may liven them up with some red tomatoes or some green parsley. Even some mature cheddar. We’re not getting an omelette though no matter how much we plead. Personally, I’d like steak but there’s not a single party in Ireland that can offer me one 🙂
Equally we’re not afforded the right to vote for “None Of The Above”. Surely, in a democratic society we should be allowed to reject the election candidate list? Unfortunately our choice is to vote or not to vote (that is the question!).
On the grounds that we do have real choices in a proportional representation system like we have in Ireland it is our civic duty to have a good hard look at each candidate and their policies and rank them. If there are 7 candidates then list all 7 in order of preference. This is the closest thing you’ll get to “None of the Above” so take advantage of it!
It occured to me that my comments may have been construed as a genuine desire to run for public office. Someday I may do so. I also realise that blogging about blogging is the technological equivalent of eating yourself feet first. However, as was demonstrated in my radio interview I’m not averse to cramming both feet into my mouth 🙂