The electoral collage

Not since the seminal 1948 election have people been more geared up for a good oul vote!

If you think that the Christmas season starts prematurely, then you’ll be downright appalled at the length of the build up to the upcoming general election. Not since the seminal 1948 election have people been more geared up for a good oul vote, with candidates declaring throwing their deposit into the ring from as early mid 2005, and campaign preparation, spinning, intrigue, controversy and general shape-making soon followed. The election is scheduled roughly for some time in May, so by the time another festive season is behind us we’ll literally only be a few months away from deciding the make up of the 30th Dáil. In other words, it all officially starts now.

To mark what will be undoubtedly the most significant and potentially epic election in our lifetime, SpunOut.ie will be covering all the news, views, issues and polls, constituency by constituency, not to mention the gaffes, insults, pie-throwing, shameless pandering and anything else we can come up with to offer you the most comprehensive and, hell I’ll say it, even interesting election coverage on offer in a section we like to call ‘The Electoral Collage!’ In your face, Irish Times…

Introduction

For a lot of you out there, this is the first time you’ll have had the opportunity to vote in a national election, or any election for that matter. Therefore, here’s everything you need to know about the 2007 election but were too afraid/couldn’t be arsed to ask.

• There are 43 constituencies, electing 3, 4 or 5 TD’s or deputies depending on the population of the constituency. One TD roughly represents about 30,000 people.~
  
  
• Most constituencies consist of a certain part of a county, e.g. Galway West or Kerry North. Some counties also act as a constituency, like Mayo or Louth. Some constituencies encompass two counties, like Carlow-Kilkenny or Cavan-Monaghan. This is because those counties are big wusses, and are too scared to be on their own.
  
  
• TD’s are elected by the Proportional Representation system of voting; essentially this means you rank candidates in order of your own personal preference instead of just ticking one box. Candidates are then eliminated or elected one-by-one until all seats are filled. Like X-Factor, but less shit. The main advantage of this is that it’s fairer to smaller parties and minority opinions.
  
  
• After the election, the Dáil will then convene within x days of the election. The new deputies will then pick a Speaker (Ceann Comhairle) to officiate over the Dáil’s business and make sure the deputies play nice with all the other children. Next up a Taoiseach is elected, although depending on the results of the election this is normally a foregone conclusion if a party or coalition has attained an overall majority. After the Dáil approves the Taoiseach, he chooses his cabinet of ministers, and after that everyone heads to the Dáil canteen for tea and biscuits, or some other such beverage.
  
  
• At the moment, the Ceann Comhairle is Father Dougal McGuire’s father, and the current Taoiseach is the father-in-law of one of the boys from Westlife. Just thought I’d throw that in there…

By: Paddy Duffy

The opinions of writers featured on SpunOut.ie do not necessarily reflect the views of the SpunOut.ie team or those of Community Creations. We try to give everyone a chance to have their opinions heard but we are not responsible for inaccuracies contained within these.