POLLING was relatively slow at Waterpark House in Ennis late this morning.
One retired gentleman said that Sinn Féín’s Liadh Ní Riada was getting his number one in the European election.
He said that in his opinion voting is crucial and that it will be his first time voting Sinn Féin. “Always and ever I voted, my background would have been Fianna Fáil but I’ve changed my voting pattern in the last few elections. I voted Fine Gael in the last election and I can’t see myself voting for them ever again.”
He has been very unimpressed by the Government and said that the performance of Labour has been very poor. “Their default position in any argument is ‘sure look at the mess we were left with’. They created voting fodder out of the middle classes, the Guards, the nurses, people like that, for Sinn Féin.”
Nuala Rice also said it’s important that everyone with a vote uses it. “Of course it’s important, people died for the vote like. No matter who you vote for you should vote. Since I’m 18 years of age I’ve been voting.”
Brendan Doyle is predicting a poor final turnout. “I’m say there will be a very low turnout. The people of Ennis don’t know who they’re voting for, so it’s going to be a hard one.”
Ferdie O’Donoghue predicts little change to the status quo, but said he would like to see some new blood. “There won’t be too much of a change, just a couple of changes. People have been there too long and we need new people with more energy.”
While there are often claims that county councils have little or no power, he doesn’t agree. “People are saying the councillors have no say but they have a say. If all of them sat down together, forgot about party politics, think about the people who voted them in, put pressure on their TDs and make sure the TDs put pressure on the Government. They have power but do they have the guts to use it.”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.