General Election 2011

So today, there is a general election in Ireland to elect TD's (Member of Parliament) to the Dail Eirann.  The previous session of the Dail was dissolved at the end of January, and the entire election campaign has only lasted a few weeks, culminating in today's election.  It has been quite interesting to follow the campaign and contrast it with my experiences with campaigning and elections back at home. 

The Irish use a system of voting called the Alternative Vote, and the only other country that uses this is Malta.  Each district elects either 3, 4, or 5 TD's, depending on the population of the district.  Each citizen votes by ranking their candidates by preference.  Once a candidate reaches the predetermined quota of first-preference votes for a seat, all the rest of their votes are transferred to the other candidates, based on how they were ranked by the voters.  It is an interesting system that provides for many opportunities for voters to act strategically, but parties must as well.  If a party does not believe they have enough votes to get two quotas in a district, they might only run one candidate to ensure that they get the one seat.

The largest party in the previous Dail was Fianna Fail, a centrist party who have basically been in power in Ireland for the past 70 years.  Now, they will be lucky to be the third largest party in the next Dail.  They popularity has tanked, and many voters blame them for turning the surpluses from the Celtic Tiger years into deficits, for raising taxes, and allowing reckless lending by banks, which led to a government bailout and then an IMF/EU bailout of the Ireland (Sounds eerily familiar, doesn't it?).  The main opposition parties are Fine Gael (a center-right party) and Labour (center-left).  Other parties include the Green Party, which will be lucky to have any representation in the next Dail after being part of the ruling coalition with Fianna Fail the past few years, and Sinn Fein.  There are also several independent candidates running, as well as a few far left/socialist candidates running under the label "United Left Alliance."

My prediction for the election is as follows:
Fine Gael- 79 Seats
Labour- 40 Seats
Fianna Fail-25 Seats
Sinn Feinn- 11 Seats
Greens- 1 Seats
Independents/Others- 10 Seats

Fine Gael will form a coalition with some of the more centrist/center-right independents and Enda Kenny will be the next Taoiseach (prime minister).

We will know soon how close (or how far off base) I am in my predictions.  During the past few weeks, a couple thousand signs appeared all around Dublin, which has really been most of my contact with the election (not having a TV, I was spared any campaign commercials).  In addition, Fine Gael, in what I suppose is an attempt to connect with younger voters, created a video game where you actually shoot political opponents with the logo of the Fine Gael party.  The first time I saw the game, I thought it was a joke, but it is very real, and annoyingly difficult to beat (http://www.finegael2011.com/game/).  Here are some of the pictures of campaign posters:

A Day Full of Irish Politics

As you know, I am studying Comparative European Politics here at TCD, but we do not often talk about the politics of the Emerald Island, even though there is a lot going on and a general election coming up.  After out visit to the President's Mansion two weeks ago, we made plans to tour the Dáil Éirann, the Irish Parliament.  One of my classmates has an uncle who is a TD (Member of Parliament) and he arranged a tour of the Dáil for us.

It was a very interesting tour and since the Parliament was not in session, we were able to get up close to the Senate meeting chamber.  Now I have been to two parliaments (Ireland and Québec), but I still haven't made it to Congress...perhaps this summer I will call up Leonard Lance and make that happen.

Leinster House, home of the Dáil Éirann

The Senate Chamber

After our tour of the Dáil (and coffee) we headed back up to TCD to hear Mary McAleese, the President of Ireland, speak at the University Philosophical Society, a debating society that we attend every so often.  It was a great opportunity to hear President McAlesse speak, and I think that some of our politicians could learn a few things from her.  She was very personable and seemed easy to connect to, but also commanded the room's attention.  She is the second female president of Ireland, and the first one born in Northern Ireland.  She is finishing up her second term as president, and as she is term-limited, she plans to return to school and further her already advanced career in law.

Visit to Howth

Today, my friends Lena and Johanna (both from choir) and myself ventured on up to Howth, a fishing village north of Dublin.  We had decided that there were a lot of places still in the Dublin area that we needed to see, so we hopped on the DART train and headed up the coast. 

We lucked out with the weather.  While it was on the cold side, it was a sunny day, and we took advantage of that by walking around Howth for about 4 hours.  We walked along the sea wall between the harbor and the Irish Sea and up to the harbor lighthouse.

 After walking around the town and harbor for a while, we headed on up to the cliffs that rise over the area.

It was a bit of hike up to the cliffs, but it offered some great views and vistas of the town of Howth and of the Irish Sea.

Zoomed in view of the harbor and lighthouse from the cliffs

Islands in the Irish Sea

After we finished up the cliff walk, we headed back into town and had fish and chips for dinner from Beshoff's and we walked around the town a bit more.  In one area of the harbor, there is a fish store were people can buy fish to feed some seals that live in the area, so we went to see if we could get a glimpse of the seals.  Sure enough, there was a group of people throwing in fish to happily waiting seals, who would then tease the seagulls circling around them by holding the fish up for them, and then diving under the water when the birds got closer.  By this time, the sun was going down, the wind was picking up, and the temperature was dropping, so we caught the DART back into town.  While on the train, we made a list of the places that we wanted to visit this semester, so be on the lookout for posts soon.

Phoenix Park

So today, a group of my friends from class and I decided to tour the Aras an Uachtarain, or the residence of the President of Ireland, which is located in Phoenix Park.  The park is one of, if not the largest city park in the world, and it is completely surrounded by a perimeter wall, which is six miles in length.  It is home to many monuments, attractions, a herd of wild deer, and the residences of both the Irish President and the US Ambassador to Ireland. 

The excursion started off on an interesting note when myself and two of my friends wound up locked in a Spar (a mini-mart store) when they were changing money in an ATM.  After that, we hopped on the tram and made it to the park, where we had a bit of a walk before the house.  This is where the adventure really gets interesting.  After meeting up with a friend in the park, we made it to the gate to the Aras an Uachtarain, only to find out that it is not the pedestrian gate.  The security office told us where to go and we headed off in that direction, only to miss our next turn and continued to walk the wrong way.  After several minutes of walking, a park ranger tried to give us directions, but those proved to not be all that helpful.  Long story short, we finally found the visitors center where you pick up a bus that brings you to the Aras an Uachtarain, and just in time, as we caught the very last tour of the day.  All in all, we walked over 5 miles getting to and from and around the park.  The tour of the residence was very good, and the person leading the tour was very informative, I would definitely recommend this to anyone visiting Dublin, and its free!

Entrance to Phoenix Park

Wellington Monument

The Aras an Uachtarain

Papal Cross

Back to the grind

So I arrived back in Dublin this morning after about a month or so off on break.  I went home for the holidays, and I really enjoyed being home for a bit.  My flight went well.  I actually ran into a friend from Trinity who was on the same flight, and I had a row to myself on the plane, so I was able to stretch out my legs a bit and sleep.  After a quick nap, I spent the day with two of my friends from back home who took a little vacation for themselves and came to Dublin.  Even though I had seen one of these friends a few times over break, it was a lot of fun to hang out with them in Dublin.

Like I said I had a great time over break.  I got to spend time with my family, eat latkes with my grandparents, catch up with friends, drive, went to a few Devils games, and just relax.  Christmas went well, and as usual, we had brunch with the Mittermaiers.  I also had some friends from Lyco over for New Year's Eve and some of us went into the city the next day to see the tree and get dinner.  It was a lot of fun.

So now its back to the grind.  I have four classes this semester.  Two of them are only half-semester long.  I have two classes on the European Union and its policies, a class on international organizations, and a class on statistics.  I will also be working on my dissertation, so it will be a busy semester.  Hopefully, I will get to travel a bit more this term.  I really hope to make it to Angers to visit Amy and Strasbourg to visit Tara, and to London, Rome, the Vatican, Gibraltar, Belgium, and Morocco.  Its an ambitious list of places to go, but I hope that I can make it to all of those places, and hopefully, even more.  I also am going to try and write a little more frequently on this blog this term.

Where did the past three months go?

I am currently sitting in my room trying to do anything but study for my finals that have (one tomorrow, and the other on Wednesday).  I feel like posting to this blog is as good an excuse as any to take a break from studying. 

It's hard to believe that the semester is over already, it still feels like I have just arrived in Dublin and still getting settled, but its time for final exams and essays already.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here and the program that I have selected, and it has definitely helped me sort out some priorities (more on that in a future posting), but I am also equally excited to go home for the holidays, and all that is standing  in the way is two finals and paper.

I am looking forward to being back home with my family, seeing my friends from Prep and Lyco, eating some latkes with my grandparents, our traditional Christmas morning brunch with the Mittermaiers, driving (for some reason, I really want to get behind the wheel of my jeep and just drive), and getting a proper iced coffee (which does not exist in Ireland).  I am also starting to get into the holiday spirit, even though the holiday season here started literally the day after Halloween.  My choir went caroling today to raise money for a Dublin-based charity, and it made me think of when the Madrigal Singers would go caroling at the Bridgewater Mall and the annual Lycoming Candlelight service, which is tonight. 

Well, I suppose I should get back to studying as my exam tomorrow afternoon is worth 50% of my grade in that class.  I will leave you with this picture of Grafton Street, all decked out for the holidays.

Lights on Grafton Street in Dublin saying Nollaig Shona Duit, Irish for Merry Christmas

Family Visit

During the last week of November, my parents and my brothers were able to come visit me for a few days, and their trip happened to fall during Thanksgiving (we had Italian food that night).  It is really strange being in a place that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving because it normally served as a buffer to the start of the Christmas season, but in Ireland, the seasonal craziness began the day after Halloween, with trees and lights going up all over the city and commercials and ads popping up all over the place.  My family's trip also coincided with the University of Dublin Choral Society Michaelmas Concert, which was an unexpected, and unplanned, bonus.

UDCS Concert

I was glad that my family got to experience and see Dublin firsthand, and I got to do and see some things that I had yet to do since arriving here in September.  Some of these things included going on a bus tour of the city, visiting the historic Kilmainham Gaol, and going to the Guinness Storehouse.

Learning how to pour the perfect pint, I succeeded, Justin did not.

On the Hop-on/Hop-off bus tour

Interior of Kilmainham Gaol

 

 

 

 

We spent Friday of that week in Northern Ireland, on a bus tour that went along the scenic County Antrim Coast and to the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge (which is a wood and rope bridge suspended 100 feet above the ocean), the Bushmills Distillery, Dunluce Castle, and the Giant's Causeway.

County Antrim Coastline

County Antrim Coastline

County Antrim Coastline

 

Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge

Jeremy, Mom, Justin, and Dad on the Bridge

Bushmill's

Dunluce Castle

Giant's Causeway

Giant's Causeway

Giant's Causeway

We capped off the visit with dinner and drinks with the MacNeill and MacDonald families.  I was really happy to see my family and glad that there were able to see Dublin, I know that they are planning a return trip in the spring to hit the links of the Emerald Island, and I am looking forward to going home for the holidays in less than a week.