Ideological Vacuum Results in Voter Volatility. Eamonn Ryan - Next Green Leader?

So did FF get a 5% boost? Maybe, maybe not. One in every 20 polls has an error outside the standard 3% error normally allowed. this could be one of those. Or possibly, Indas weak performance against Ahern came into play. If so why weren't FG the big losers?

Its probably more complex. If labour lost 3 points where did they go? 1 went to the greens, and why not given their strong PPB on the night of the debate. The other two, along with one from FG, one from SF and one from Others went to FF. so FF took votes from everyone, but more took more votes from labour than anyone else.

This I suspect, is from Labour supporters secretly hoping for a FF / labour pact, who are disgusted with the parties association with affable blushirt bumkin, Enda Kenny.

Underneath all this voter volatility lies the vacuum at the heart of the election - the lack of an alternative ideology to the vacuous and irresponsible free market, pro business, fuck the environment and fuck the begrudgers attitude of the four main parties.

The shinners haver also jetissoned almost all of their republican and left wing baggage in the hope of getting mercs under their asses. Not their Northern leadership have anything other than a vague notion of the politics of the south.

So to the Greens. This is a party led by a loser. Decent chap and all that but no political nous. For this reason there will be no green tide in this election. They may make a few small gains, as their independent strategy will allow them get transfers from everybody. This is none the less a party to watch out for. It is a party with beliefs, a party that maintains a left wing vision, and a party that can become the leading party of the left. Eamonn Ryan is the man who can bring them there.


His performance on "A Week in Politics" yesterday was most impressive. He presented Green policies and Green strategies with clarity, conviction and determination. He was much more impressive than Dermot Ahern and the FG guy (I can't even remember who he was) on the same show. Eamonn Ryan appears to have the potential to provide the vision and leadership necessary to unite and rally the dissillusioned and fragmented left, to the point where they could be a major force in Irish Politics.

It is worth alos pointing out that the Left Bloc has growns substantially in the last 30 years from about 12% -15% when the Labour Party was essentially the sole standard bearer to about 30% today (Labour `12%, Sinn Fein 10% Greens 6% Socialists and Other Left 2%)


Watch this space.