Dublin Elections

Today I went to Dublin with Conor, Rob and Terry to help with the election. We met up with other Sinn Fein members in a house that was set up to be the base of operations in the district. After tea and some planning, Rob and I took to handing out leaflets to people at the shopping center across the street.

Handing out the leaflets was interesting. People actually wanted what we were hanging out. The only ones who didn't take the leaflets say they had already voted, with a smile. Although some said they already voted with less of a smile, so I would be less sure they voted for Sinn Fein. Some people just ignored us or didn't want it, but it was a rarity. I picked up only 2 or 3 from the ground that were dropped on the street walking back and forth for over an hour.

After working a while, Connor dropped us of in the center to have a look around and look for a hostel to stay Saturday night. All are full! There is a church converted to an tourism info center and the only hostels or hotels available were too far and expensive or not very nice. Overhearing this problem, some Sinn Fein people offered to arrange for us to stay with them while they are making room for people anyway for another event. In the center we visited Trinity College, the Post Office that Irish took a hold of at the Easter Rising, and the Littlest Pub in Dublin. The Littlest Pub was smaller than my bedroom in NJ. It had a counterpart in Boston that sent customers back and forth with no business relation that recently closed. Talking to the bar tender there, as well as the hostel agent at the Tourist Info building it seems the area we were in was not a very good one. When Rob read the name of the bus stop of the paper in his pocket we would get faces and referent to anyone canvassing there are a "Brave Man". Though, being from North Belfast, it probably doesn’t seem too bad.

We took a bus back from the center around 6, when the canvassing really kicks up as people are getting back from work. Rob and I went in a van with four Sinn Fein members knocking on "Green" houses asking if they had voted, who for, if they needed a ride, etc. Stan, the leader of this group took all this information down and it was recorded at the house. There were sheets on the walls and every "Green" voter was listed and all who were believed to have voted were highlighted. Most were highlighted by the end of the night.

It would be very easy to get caught up in the spirit of Sinn Fein, and many people do. Volunteers flood their events, in fact 50 Northern Islanders came today to help with the election. Conor said one of the things he likes so much is the crazy people you get in Sinn Fein. That after the disarming of the IRA, the leaders encouraged those who were not already involved to join Sinn Fein.

Learning about Irish politics was very interesting. We were encouraging people to vote (or Vótáil) for Joanne Spain 1. That is on the ballot, mark her number 1 choice. All candidates are ranked in preference. So if a voter's top choice does not get enough votes to get in, their second choice is then counted. This process takes days to count and determine election winners as ballots need to be counted multiple times. The interesting result of this system is that every vote counts. People do not feel they are throwing away their vote if they give their #1 to an it dependant or candidate in a smaller party. As a result Ireland does not have the two party dominated system the US has, there 8 parties running candidates in Dublin Mid West district alone. People seemed to really believe in politics and be much less cynic than in the US were with only two choices, voters often choose the lesser evil. While walking door to door many people talked of meeting the Sinn Fein politicians, even I met Joanne twice that day. Being so in touch with voter wants be more feasible because the country is so much smaller. The wants vary less in a country the size of NJ than a country the size of the USA. While walking door to door many people talked of meeting the Sinn Fein politicians, even I met Joanne twice that day.

On the ride home Rob brought up Conor's new counselor position. Interesting things he told us were that at Intercomm people are encouraged to bring their political views with them. They are all from different backgrounds and they work together. Him being a counselor is look as a positive thing, another connection, and his unionist collages only offered their support.