Students to be disenfranchised once again.

[northmallexile]

Well, possibly.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0322/ahernb.html

[northmallexile]

A petition's been set up about this now. I'm fairly dubious about what effect such online petitions have, but anyway:

http://www.petitiononline.c om/Thursno/

[jungle]

He seems to be aiming for a weekday just before the Heineken Cup final. Great way to disenfranchise your opponents...

[markinmanc]

People expect him to fight fair? FFS.

[ho chi feen]

Well, possibly.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0322/ahernb.html

You know what? I say it's their own fucking fault for not registering in the constituency where they actually live.

[markinmanc]

You know what? I say it's their own fucking fault for not registering in the constituency where they actually live.


Cos the register of electors isn't a mess? Are students still barred from registering at term time addresses?

[ho chi feen]

Cos the register of electors isn't a mess? Are students still barred from registering at term time addresses?

Nope, it's a matter of choice, and it should be illegal. You come from constituency (a), live or work in constituency (b), then you either cast your vote in constituency (b), or not at all- end of. Anything else is a mockery of the system. If you're 45 years old, living and working in Cork, why should you be allowed to cast your vote in, say, Leitrim? Or if you're from Wexford, but living and studying in Dublin? Shouldn't the choice of representative be a matter for those people who actually live there?

I lived in the UK for 3 years, and still spent approximately 3-4 months of the year at home. I cast my vote in the Edinburgh South, because I lived there- not in Cork South Central (even for the last general election). Anything else would have been wrong in principle.

[northmallexile]

You know what? I say it's their own fucking fault for not registering in the constituency where they actually live.

And you'd have decent Cork people wasting their vote in Dublin?!


Away with you, wind-up man!
For God's sake! Mocking!

[northmallexile]

On a serious note, there's a transience issue, isn't there? What if, say, you're from Cork but on a year's placement in Dublin?

It's wrong in principle if you expect to stay in the same place for the duration of the Dáil you're electing. Anything else and it makes perfect logical and moral sense to want to vote in your home constituency.

[ho chi feen]

And you'd have decent Cork people wasting their vote in Dublin?!


Away with you, wind-up man!
For God's sake! Mocking!

I'm not windin, I'm being serious.

As for your point below- you go to college, you're there for three to four years. Chances are, you're never going to move home to Ballygobackwards for good ever again. Ditto moving to dumpland for work.

Now in the case you've mentioned below, such as a temporary work placement, that's obviously a different matter. But I don't think Timmy from Portlaoise who goes to Trinners to study Orts should be allowed to vote in Portlaoise when he's studying or when he takes up his job in the civil service. That's morally wrong, IMHO- and not tolerated in many other countries.

[trasnanadtonnta]

I don't see how it makes a difference to students in particular? Do people still do that going home every weekend thing? And anyway, I agree that it's their own fault for not registering in a place where they can actually vote.

[norvackxx]

Hippopotamus balls to all ye defending Bertie. Saturday or Sunday is clearly the day any election should be held in. Students aside, people tend to work on thursdays, come home, have their dinner and get stoned watching shite TV for the rest of the night. Hence, half the electorate will forget to turn up. Having the election at the weekend will guarantee alot more punters at the polls.

[ho chi feen]

Do people still do that going home every weekend thing?

Aye, and it's pathetic really. Wasn't going to college all about getting out into the world and experiencing it? Fucking off home every other week 'cos you miss your mammy's roast is just sad, like. And expecting to be able to cast your vote there? A mockery.

[trasnanadtonnta]

Aye, and it's pathetic really. Wasn't going to college all about getting out into the world and experiencing it? Fucking off home every other week 'cos you miss your mammy's roast is just sad, like. And expecting to be able to cast your vote there? A mockery.

Actually, I see nothing wrong with it. I just thought it was something people didn't do any more. Frankly, I think this insatiable urge to get out of home at 18 is fine, but I never had it, and I don't see what's wrong with that. Why is not wanting to live where you grew such up a big badge of maturity? It seems so terribly teenage to me.

The point about voting stands though: Decide which one is the community of which you are really a part, and then, by hook or by crook, get there on polling day. (Says your wan who still isn't sure if she's eligible for a postal vote. To be honest, I never thought the general election would happen before I got home...)

[trasnanadtonnta]

Hippopotamus balls to all ye defending Bertie. Saturday or Sunday is clearly the day any election should be held in. Students aside, people tend to work on thursdays, come home, have their dinner and get stoned watching shite TV for the rest of the night. Hence, half the electorate will forget to turn up. Having the election at the weekend will guarantee alot more punters at the polls.

I agree with you about weekend voting, and frankly, I don't understand why it isn't the norm. We should possibly go to the polls on a Sunday, that would seem to make sense?

[ho chi feen]

Actually, I see nothing wrong with it. I just thought it was something people didn't do any more. Frankly, I think this insatiable urge to get out of home at 18 is fine, but I never had it, and I don't see what's wrong with that. Why is not wanting to live where you grew such up a big badge of maturity? It seems so terribly teenage to me.

The point about voting stands though: Decide which one is the community of which you are really a part, and then, by hook or by crook, get there on polling day. (Says your wan who still isn't sure if she's eligible for a postal vote. To be honest, I never thought the general election would happen before I got home...)

I'm just saying that it kind of goes against the whole idea of what going to University was once about. Whatshername (I know that helps... I'll tell ya after I've read today's paper) in the Tribune pretty much hit the nail on the head with a piece about this a few months ago, although obviously Ireland was a very different place in her day- it's not expensive to get home, and shagging a fella at the local superpub isn't going to tar you as some kind of a whore like it once did. I'm dragging in a completely separate issue here though.

As for the vote, yeah, it would make a lot of sense to have it spread over a weekend- Friday, Saturday and Sunday, or maybe just Saturday and Sunday- but not merely to facilitate a shower of gombeens who want to influence the vote in an area which they don't even live.

[trasnanadtonnta]

There are a lot of things that people do that go against the spirit of what university was supposed to be about. Business courses, for example.

[ho chi feen]

There are a lot of things that people do that go against the spirit of what university was supposed to be about. Business courses, for example.

Can I add undegratuate degree course in 'journalism' to that?

[trasnanadtonnta]

Can I add undegratuate degree course in 'journalism' to that?

Yup. Anything that is basically just training for a job you may or may not get one day. University was traditionally (rightly or wrongly) meant to be the place where you went to learn for learning's sake.

[ho chi feen]

Yup. Anything that is basically just training for a job you may or may not get one day. University was traditionally (rightly or wrongly) meant to be the place where you went to learn for learning's sake.

That'd also have made it the preserve of the middle and upper classes though, I guess.

[jungle]

Just to throw a bit of a spanner into the works here...

It is perfectly legal to be registered to vote in more than one constituency. It is only illegal to use your vote in more than one.

[trasnanadtonnta]

Just to throw a bit of a spanner into the works here...

It is perfectly legal to be registered to vote in more than one constituency. It is only illegal to use your vote in more than one.

How does that throw a spanner in the works? You still have to pick where to vote, and get your arse to the polling station.

[jungle]

How does that throw a spanner in the works? You still have to pick where to vote, and get your arse to the polling station.

It means that if you're from Tipperary South and living in Cork South Central, you could quite easily have registered in both constituencies, so you've only really disenfranchised yourself by only voting at home.

[trasnanadtonnta]

That'd also have made it the preserve of the middle and upper classes though, I guess.

It did, but obviously that was a matter of having the resources not to go into a trade or some other job, not a matter of the intellectual challenge involved. Making university a haven of learning for learning's sake would not disqualify anyone if you had equality of access, which we should have anyway.

[ho chi feen]

It did, but obviously that was a matter of having the resources not to go into a trade or some other job, not a matter of the intellectual challenge involved. Making university a haven of learning for learning's sake would not disqualify anyone if you had equality of access, which we should have anyway.

I just think that the 'transferable skills' gained from a lot of more general degree courses are a lot more 'transferable' for those born into the right background, with the right connection, that kind of thing. But then, if you're that priveleged, I don't think it matters much what course you choose to study- you'll probably do alright. Someone less fortunate will probably want to aim for a more clearly defined goal.

I do think courses have swung too much to a vocational extreme though.

[trasnanadtonnta]

I just resent the fact that it's swung so far that you have the likes of Wrixon (thank Christ he's gone) acting as if universities have no purpose other than to make money. Yeah, cos that's why curing cancer is worthwhile. For money.

[ho chi feen]

I just resent the fact that it's swung so far that you have the likes of Wrixon (thank Christ he's gone) acting as if universities have no purpose other than to make money. Yeah, cos that's why curing cancer is worthwhile. For money.

Wrixon sounds like a right langer alright.

[trasnanadtonnta]

Wrixon sounds like a right langer alright.

I'm optimistic that the new guy (Michael Murphy, formerly head of Medicine and Health) will be much better.

Sorry for the thread hi-jack, everyone. I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing, as you all know...

[Langer Dan]

There are a lot of things that people do that go against the spirit of what university was supposed to be about. Business courses, for example.


those who teach 'business' are merely failed businessmen, if they were any cop they'd be out making serious money.

Thtas why UCD, the countries 'finest university' needs two business schools and has ditched its professorship in old Irish, what a country we live in.

[jungle]

those who teach 'business' are merely failed businessmen, if they were any cop they'd be out making serious money.

I don't think that's true.

I have one friend who made the decision because of lifestyle issues.

He had just started a family and also his father had a heart attack and needed help with his business for a while. He gave up a very well-paid career in Dublin to teach a business course in Cork, which meant he actually got to see his kids and his father occasionally.

[northmallexile]

A petition's been set up about this now. I'm fairly dubious about what effect such online petitions have, but anyway:

http://www.petitiononline.c om/Thursno/

Some of the spelling used on this petition makes me cringe. Particularly from the self-proclaimed 'students'.