NI Assembly & Council Elections

warmhands.coldheart

Well someone had to start it...... I know in Northern Ireland it’s our favourite pastime... talking about politics!!

I have a number of gripes regarding these elections.
First possibly a bit petty..
1. Why are there still a load of campaign posters still littering our lamp posts? I find it really irritating and on top of that when they do “pull” them down they leave a dozen big plastic cable ties behind hanging off all said lamp posts.

Second a lot more concerning

2. Double Jobbing.... that old chestnut. One of our local UUP candidates (Jo-Anne Dobson) has now been elected to the Assembly & Council.... this double jobbing really bugs me also
I believe she has been quoted in the local paper as saying she won’t take her council seat if elected to the assembly... OK so who takes her council seat then?????? Someone within the UUP who hasn’t been elected?????????
I don’t believe she’s the only one: But I notice the DUP are the worst offenders.... I thought they were putting an end to Double Jobbing!!!

Below are all people I can see voted into the assembly and also into local councils

Kieran McCarthy – Alliance
Stewart Dickson – Alliance
Judith Cochrane – Alliance

Sydney Anderson – DUP
Thomas Buchanan – DUP
Trevor Clarke – DUP
Jonathan Craig – DUP
Gordon Dunne – DUP
Alex Easton – DUP
Paul Frew – DUP
Paul Girvan – DUP
Paul Givan – DUP
David Hilditch – DUP
Adrian McQuillan – DUP
Stephen Moutray – DUP
Robin Newton – DUP
Mervyn Storey - DUP
Ian McCrea – DUP
Pam Lewis – DUP
William Irwin – DUP

Steven Agnew – Green Party

Colum Eastwood – SDLP

Willie Clarke – Sinn Fein
Phil Flanagan – Sinn Fein
Sean Lynch – Sinn Fein
Oliver McMullan – Sinn Fein

Roy Beggs – UUP
Michael Copeland – UUP
Ross Hussey – UUP

Now will they all take both seats!! Oh nice "JOBS" if you can get them!!

steveymp

We still have MP's double jobbing in the executive too:o Nicer "Jobs" if you can get them

1 person 1 job is what I say :T they should follow our First Ministers lead and get unelected from one of them :rotfl:

fadetogrey

was always the same here do as I say not as i do.and of course before the election they were beating your door down for your vote,try to get one now and "sorry sir he/shes booked up full".:(:(

jeffer

fadetogrey wrote: »

was always the same here do as I say not as i do.and of course before the election they were beating your door down for your vote,try to get one now and "sorry sir he/shes booked up full".:(:(

Not in my area they weren't - just stufffed leaflets in the letterboxes and ran.:(

drew2k9

Forgive me for pointing this out, but they didn't just decide "i want two jobs", as you pointed out they had to be elected to both jobs. if you dont want someone to have two jobs, then only vote for them for one of the jobs.

warmhands.coldheart

drew2k9 wrote: »

Forgive me for pointing this out, but they didn't just decide "i want two jobs", as you pointed out they had to be elected to both jobs. if you dont want someone to have two jobs, then only vote for them for one of the jobs.

I didn't.... I made a point of not voting for anyone who was standing for Both Assembly & Council.

Yes I agree you have to be elected to both jobs but it's up to the person & party's to decide on who goes for what job.... I think it's wrong to have the same person standing for and getting both jobs.... and of course people are going to vote for the person the party puts up no matter who it is just to "keep the other lot out". In my view if people voted for candidates based on their abilities & what they did for the community I'd say over half the MLA's & Councillors wouldn't get any votes!!

drew2k9

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

I didn't.... I made a point of not voting for anyone who was standing for Both Assembly & Council.

Yes I agree you have to be elected to both jobs but it's up to the person & party's to decide on who goes for what job.... I think it's wrong to have the same person standing for and getting both jobs.... and of course people are going to vote for the person the party puts up no matter who it is just to "keep the other lot out". In my view if people voted for candidates based on their abilities & what they did for the community I'd say over half the MLA's & Councillors wouldn't get any votes!!

I completely agree with that 100%.

steveymp

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

I didn't.... I made a point of not voting for anyone who was standing for Both Assembly & Council.

Yes I agree you have to be elected to both jobs but it's up to the person & party's to decide on who goes for what job.... I think it's wrong to have the same person standing for and getting both jobs.... and of course people are going to vote for the person the party puts up no matter who it is just to "keep the other lot out". In my view if people voted for candidates based on their abilities & what they did for the community I'd say over half the MLA's & Councillors wouldn't get any votes!!

I'll Second that :T

Also a first time non voter this year:eek: just fed up with the lot of them:o

lazer

We don't have real polilitics in NI - we have a mickey mouse assembly and voters who care more about sectarian issues than actual politics.

I know people that vote for SF because they are nationlist - however when i checked SF policies and asked them what they thought on the issues - they disagreed with almost all of them. This is the case with probably the majority of voters in NI - they vote purely on the basis of nationlist/unionist. A nationlist gets to choose between Sf and SDLP, whereas as unionist gets to choose between the DUP and the UUP.

However the sectarian voting is only part of the problem, in my view the main problem is the "non-voters"
If you donlt vote because you don't agree with our tribal voting, that is worse than the tribal voting. Get out there and vote AP/Green/independent etc or if you don't like those spoil your vote.
Sitting at home moaning isn't going to help anyone

Pretani

I never bothered voting this year either, I won't be taken in by mickey mouse politics and stunts by politicians just for my vote. Martin McGuinness went to the first police officers funeral and Peter Robinson went to his first mass...........Hummmmm, stunts like that don't impress me, Jesus would call them 'Political Pharisees':rotfl:......everything is put on for show, yet nothing is actually being done properly.

warmhands.coldheart

On a slightly seperate but relavant point. Has anyone seen the young guy (barely out of Nappies from what I saw) who's been elected onto Belfast City council for the DUP. I think he's 19 and in second year at Uni!! For God Sake..... what have things come to.... can someone of that age really have enough life experience to be of any use to anyone?

Maybe I'm just getting old(er) and grumpy(er)