Tag Archives: vote

The Union of Students in Ireland will register an estimated 10,000 new third level students to vote across 24 Irish campuses tomorrow (Tuesday). USI’s campaign, Education Is aims to educate, empower and register students to vote in the upcoming General Election, focusing on which parties will increase student support such as grants, student assistance funds and accommodation. Education Is follows the success of the student voter registration campaign before the marriage equality referendum, which registered 27,633 new voters. The National Day of Voter Registration’s official hashtag is #RockTheRegister. “One sixth of people living below the poverty line are students,” USI president, Kevin Donoghue said. “The new students we are registering to vote will be voting for politicians who have their educational interests in mind. The cost of living for students is €11,000 per year, which means college courses can cost between €33,000 and €77,000. Government investment in third level education dropped from over €1.6bn in 2005 to €939m in 2014. …

OPPONENTS of the adoption of a controversial €120 million distributor road into the Clare County Development Plan are becoming increasingly concerned that it could get the green light this Friday afternoon. Judging by the vociferous objections from councillors at a recent council meeting, concerned residents in Parteen were confident that it would not get the required numbers for its adoption into the Clare County Development Plan. However, councillors who are against this proposal are now fearful that some of their colleagues may change their minds, following a briefing last Thursday conducted by consultants appointed by the council who endorsed the emerging preferred route without any change. Last week, Clare county councillors decided to defer making a decision on adopting the road into the County Development Plan, following trenchant opposition from a local lobby group. Councillors were given a deadline of July 31 at the council meeting to make a decision on the proposed Northern Distributor Road. No councillor spoke in …

Businesses will not benefit from any commercial cut in rates next year, ahead of the new equalisation process in 2016. Clare’s 2015 Draft Budget was passed at a meeting on Wednesday by 23 votes to three. It was opposed by Fine Gael Councillor Johnny Flynn and Independent Councillors Ian Lynch and James Breen. The new Annual Rate of Valuation (ARV) was set at €72.99, which is the existing county commercial rate. This proposal was passed by 23 votes to two, following opposition from Councillors Flynn and Lynch, with one abstention. Following this decision, it seems as if commercial rates in Ennis and Kilrush will have to increase from €65.45 and €61.93, respectively, up to the €72.99 over a five-year period, starting in 2016. Councillor Johnny Flynn argued there should be plenty of scope to reduce the county commercial rate down to the Ennis rate, considering up to €1 million should have been saved in increased efficiencies, following the abolition of …

CLARE  county councillors have voted to slash the Local Property Tax (LPT) by 15% following a special meeting of theb local authority on Friday morning. An alliance of Fianna Fáil councillors and some members of the so-called Technical Group ensured the maximum reduction will be passed on to property owners in Clare next January after it was passed by 17 votes to ten. The reduction, which prompted some heated exchanges during the meeting, was supported by 11 Fianna Fáil councillors, Sinn Féin Councillor Mike McKee as well as Independents Gerry Flynn, James Breen, Ann Norton, Michael Begley and P J Ryan. Two members of the Technical Group – long serving Independent councillor Christy Curtin and Ian Lynch broke ranks by opting to oppose the cut with eight Fine Gael councillors. The council’s chief executive, Tom Coughlan told councillors in a report on the “Local Property Tax Local Adjustment Factor” a sum of €1.56 million would be available for additional services …

ELECTED for another five years late this evening, Fine Gael’s Gabriel Keating said his vote climbed during the day like a jumbo jet. He said he was always confident. “I had the work done and I felt it would come right. My vote this morning was low, it was two or three hundred behind some of the lads that I thought would get there, but it climbed and climbed and climbed.” It was a very different campaign to 2009, he claimed. “It was a different campaign because five years ago I was really taking the seat that had been held by Madeline Taylor Quinn. This time we had two candidates, an ex Fine Gael and a Fine Gael candidate from Kilrush. But I had great support, great canvassers with me. “As the day went on I was climbing, it (his vote) was like a 747 going up all the time,” he added.  

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 …

THE National Youth Council of Ireland has urged young people to register to vote ahead of next month’s referendums on the Seanad and on new Court of Appeal. “With just days left to register to vote, we would urge any young person who is 18 years of age on or before October 4 to apply for inclusion on the supplementary register. They can do so up until Tuesday, September 17,” said James Doorley, NYCI deputy director. The NYCI also highlighted the importance of fist-time voters making sure they are registered, as an estimated 50,000 young people are turning 18 in 2013.* Mr Doorley explained: “Not being on the register is a key reason why young people don’t vote, with many not even aware they have to register. In fact, a previous NYCI study found that 26% of 18-25 year olds were not registered to vote, rising to 36% among 18-21 year olds. “We strongly encourage young people to register and …