An Historic Power Shift

As I am sure you are aware, Ireland is facing a severe economic crisis that has shaken many people to the core.  I have written about it in this blog in the past. Unemployment is very high (13.4% in January 2011) and extremely difficult cuts in the budget will have to be made.

Amidst the great economic disillusion, the lower house of parliament, called the Dail, was dissolved and a general election was held last Friday, February 25. 

Some elections have not been called yet, but it is certain that the long-ruling party Fianna Fail (pronounced something like “Fee-nay Fall”) has been soundly defeated.   This is no surprise to me.  As far as I can gather, almost everyone holds the ruling party largely responsible for the ongoing economic crisis.  Fianna Fail has been the largest party since 1932. 

For the first time in history, the Fine Gael (pronounced something like “Finn-eh Gale”) party has become the majority party.  The second largest party now is Labour with independents in third.  Fianna Fail has the fourth place.  Labour and Sinn Fein won more seats than ever before

Campaigning officially began on February 1 and ended on February 24.  Political ads are banned on TV and radio (imagine!), but there were several televised debates.  I also saw two local candidates campaigning last Sunday.  As I left church, they were ready and waiting with loud speakers to make their case to the emerging congregants.

The Irish election system is called “proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote” (STV).  A voter is given a slate of candidates and s/he rank orders them.  I understand the processing of the votes can be complicated.  I watched some returns coming in today and I heard commentators mentioning a “seventh count,” etc. 

This Poster Asks People to vote for Fine Gael 1, 2, 3 and 4

I’m sure the language barrier was largely responsible, but I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to Italian politics when I was on sabbatical in Italy.  With the exception of following Silvio Berlusconi’s seemingly frequent scandals, I was not tapped in to the Italian political world.  In contrast, I have found the Irish election fascinating.  I especially appreciate the short campaign period and the ban on TV and radio advertising.  How much of substance can you actually learn in 30 or 60 seconds anyway?

After mass this morning I talked a little bit about the election with Fr. Dick.  He was clearly immersed in the whole process.  He mentioned it in his homily and in his bulletin column.  Another man standing nearby said something like, “With all the attacks going on, you’d have to be crazy to run for office.”  Sadly, such things might be universal.  

Note:  I relied on Wikipedia for much of this information.  I also visited the Electoral Knowledge Network online and a few other economic websites.  Please forgive any mistakes.