The battle lines have been drawn. The race is into its final stage. And the common consensus is that it is likely to be the closest-run thing in years.

At the very least, Election ‘07 has given us a bit of amusement over the past three weeks or so. On the one hand, we’ve seen the new Enda Kenny hair-do, the schoooled, Americanised gestures and the so called contract that – as the leader of Fine Gael and the man who would be Taoiseach – he is proposing to offer the Irish people. A hotpress wag described his shtick as bargain basement Bill Clinton. The question now is: are people going to buy it?
On the other side of the leadership equation, there has been a slightly more disturbing sight. The Tribunals appointed to examine a variety of planning issues have massive powers. In order to deal with questions raised in that forum, Bertie Ahern has had to provide information on transactions that have nothing to do with what is being investigated there. That privileged information has beeen leaked into the public domain by persons unknown, with the effect that Fianna Fáil have been mired since the election campaign kicked off in a desperate attempt to shrug off accusations of corruption. To say that they have been batting on a sticky wicket is to put it mildly.
On the face of it, it appears that there was nothing politically untoward in the business surrounding the house which Bertie Ahern first rented and then bought from the builder Michael Wall. But the picture that has emerged is hardly flattering to the Taoiseach nonetheless. Under the media spotlight, he has looked a deflated figure. He has been pursued and hounded to reveal the full details of the Wall connection. Well, that’s the media’s job. And Fianna Fáil’s position has not been helped by the fact there have been times when Bertie has, at best, been economical with the truth.
We now know enough to conclude that, to put a sympathetic spin on it, what was involved was an attempt to begin to put a new life in the wake of the break-up of his mariage to Miriam Ahern. Well and good – but only up to a point.
Was he concealing funds so that he would have additional means that would not become the subject of a divvy with his former wife? Probably. Is that the kind of thing that a huge number of Irish people would also do, in similar circumstances, if they could organise it? Almost certainly. Does that make it right? The only possible answer to that question is ‘no’.
The truth, of course, is that a switch from Fianna Fáil to Fine Gael will make little or no difference in terms of the economic and social policies any incoming government will pursue. Not so the possibility of another shift, from the PDs as the second party in Government to Labour. The gap across the centre of Irish politics may not be huge, but it is real and I, for one, would by far prefer to see Labour involved in the next administration ahead of the PDs. All the indications are that Michael McDowell’s party are going to suffer. All I can say is that that is probably the outcome most greatly to be desired from this election, when the final votes have all been tallied and counted.
For those who are voting for the first time, take care. Look out for candidates of genuine intelligence, energy, passion, decency and commitment – the likes of Michael D. Higgins in Galway West, Clare Daly in Dublin North, Rory Hearne and Ruairi Quinn in Dublin South East, Kathleen O’Meara in Tipperary North, Richard Boyd Barrett and Eamon Gilmore in Dun Laoghaire, Alex White in Dublin South, Pat Rabbitte in Dublin South West, Joe Higgins in Dublin West – and so on. There are candidates from across the political spectrum that deserve the time of day at least: a random selection would include Mary O’Rourke from Fianna Fáil in Longford Westmeath; Brian Cowen, interviewed in this issue of hotpress, in Laois Offaly; the Green’s Eamon Ryan in Dublin South and Dan Boyle in Cork North Central; the independent Jerry Cowley in Mayo; Sinn Féin’s Aengus O Snodaigh in Dublin South West; Fine Gael’s Brody Sweeney in Dublin North East; and if there’s one PD to give a preference to it’s Liz O’Donnell in Dublin South. Choose where you want your preferences to go as well, especially if you’re voting for an independent or someone from one of the smaller parties.
Follow the card through – if you’re feeling especially bloody-minded about it, decide who you least want to get the benefit of your vote and put them last, filling in all of the preferences in between. There can be a it of fun in this, you know!
Whatever you do, make sure to get to the polling booth. It’s why hotpress got involved in the Rock The Vote initiative: as we’ve argued consistently over the past few issues, if you don’t vote, you don’t count. Make your voice heard. Democracy may be flawed but there ain’t no better system available.
It is up to us all to try and make it work – for everyone.