No Polling on Thursdays petition
Yes, I know online petitions are generally not worth the paper they aren’t written on, but this one is for a worthy cause. Bertie Ahern recently announced that he intends to have this year’s general election on a Thursday, most likely in May - i.e. right at the height of exam time for most students in this country. Students won’t be the only ones disenfranchised - there’s countless commuters and others who work away from home that won’t be able to make it to their polling station on a Thursday. This really smacks of the current government fearing the impact of a strong youth vote.
I am lucky in that I am no longer a student and work in my home constituency.
Sign the petition here. It has already got over 500 signatures, several of which are from TD’s.
Update:
The following TD’s appear to have signed the above petition (hard to verify, I might email them):
Eamon Gilmore TD, Lab
Aengus ÓSnodaigh TD, SF
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD, SF
Dan Boyle TD, Green
Finian McGrath TD, Ind
Michael Ring TD, FG
Tom Hayes TD, FG
Ruairi Quinn TD, Lab
Simon Coveney TD, FG
Trevor Sargent TD, Green
Emmet Stagg TD, Lab
Arthur Morgan TD, SF
Notice something? Not a single FF or PD TD among them.
Feckoff.net » Bertie finally calls the election on April 29th, 2007
[...] Bertie Ahern went to Aras an Uachtarain at 8 this morning to ask the president to dissolve the Dáil. The election will take place on May 24th - a Thursday. Apparently election posters were erected all over the place within minutes. [...]