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PaperclipPerfector  13d ago (text post)   985 thread views

Transnational Thursday for December 5, 2024

Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

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Irish general election results

Party Seats Seats (previous Dáil) Change
Fianna Fáil 48 35 13
Sinn Féin 39 33 6
Fine Gael 38 32 6
Green Party 1 12 -11
Labour 11 6 5
Social Democrats 11 6 5
People Before Profit - Solidarity 3 5 -2
Aontú 2 1 1
Independent Ireland 4 3 1
Independents/Other 17 22 -5
Vacant 0 5 -5
Total 174 160 14

Pretty much a holding pattern. There were concerns that Sinn Féin (a party with close historical ties to the IRA) would make such massive gains that they'd be able to form a government on their own. But it looks like Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael (the two centrist neoliberal parties) will be able to form another coalition government with the minor parties, and Sinn Féin in opposition. The Greens got hammered, with only the party leader Roderic O'Gorman retaining his seat. Modest gains for the two centre-left parties. No far-right candidates elected, with the arguable exception of one independent TD from Tipperary.

Why were the Greens wiped out?

The Guardian argues that voters blamed them for controversial environmental legislation:

Among the issues that created problems for the Greens was a carbon tax on petrol, aimed at discouraging people from consuming carbon-emitting fuel, which was introduced by the previous government but blamed on the Greens. There were also rows about Ireland’s derogation from an EU directive on nitrates, commonly used in fertiliser seeping into rivers: Fianna Fáil committed to retaining it while the Greens wanted to phase it out and prioritise river quality.

In the gender-critical circles in which I move, they've also attracted controversy for their socially progressive agenda, with party leader and Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman being a consistently outspoken advocate for trans issues being taught in primary schools.

Why is there an increase in total seats?

Per Wikipedia:

Under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2023, there will be 174 TDs in the 34th and subsequent Dáils. This follows a recommendation of the Electoral Commission in August 2023. This would give an average representation of 29,593 people per TD, based on the 2022 census.

Frankly I think the amount of seats is obscene. Ireland has 7% the combined population of the UK, but our lower house is more than one-quarter the size of theirs.

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