May23Written by:Rev Jules
5/23/2007
As Ireland goes to the polls it appears that Sound Waves was right about the effectiveness of the Rock The Vote Campaign.
When I posted my views on Rock The Vote last week, a campaign to get the young people of Ireland to the polling station which was fronted by such political luminaries as RTE star Bosco, I received a number of welcome comments in reply, the most negative of which was by JoeC which claimed that , "Rock the Vote, like it or loathe, has been an amazing success...Rock the Vote is not about appearing cool to political aware culturally savvy questions and answers watching folk - it's about appealing to another group entirely. And if you look at their basic numbers they have done so."
Well, I have some bad news for you Joe. According to none other than Rock The Vote Executive Director Patrick Cosgrove in this morning's Herald A.M, "Many students are doing finals and wont be able to get home to vote if they live elsewhere". As an excuse for not voting in what promises to be a crucial general election, that's an excuse on a par with, "The dog ate my ballot card". Herald A.M goes on to say that the turnout on the 24th May could be the lowest in the History of the State and informs us that in the last election only 25% of 18 - 24 year olds in Ireland voted, compared to 80% in Sweden.
All I can say is: Cluas - 1, Bosco - 0
Tags:3 comment(s) so far...
Re: No Bounce For Rock The Vote That's a bit harsh, it is exam time, and it's a thursday. Even the students who don't have exams on that day face a daunting task of travelling up and down to their constituency during the exam period. I think one has to question the motives behind a return to Thursday voting. When one looks at the student polls its no surprise to see that FF don't fair too well in that demographic typically.
Personally though, I'd be surprised if this was the lowest turn out to date.
By Garret on
5/24/2007 |
Re: No Bounce For Rock The Vote I think it's a sad reflection on the country that we even need a campaign to “Rock the Vote” at all. Why can’t people realise that by not voting you’re allowing all the other idiots in the country choose your leaders for you.
That being said, while I agree with Garret that FF clearly have an ulterior motive behind moving back to a Thursday ballot, any group that tries to highlight the significance of exercising your franchise by trotting out Colin Farrell holding a guitar backwards deserves all the criticism it receives.
By Idiot Kid on
5/24/2007 |
Re: No Bounce For Rock The Vote What I will say is that I do feel the ads were somewhat pointless, but the rest of the campaign which includes the handing out of badges and other such items bearing the slogan was effective in that while young people might not have seen them and said: "Oh em jee I have to go out and vote", but instead it was often a starting point of a political conversation. And anything that gets young people to discuss politics is surely no bad thing.
People might argue, "oh it's not our duty to get them to vote". But what about all the other ads on television for drink-driving, smoking and the 'silent killer' carbon monoxide. Surely we shouldn't have to tell people to not contribute to their own death, but we do.
By Garret on
5/24/2007 |