Posted by David Farrell (March 4, 2011)
In an earlier post, Liam Weeks extolled the virtues of transfers in STV. Data supplied by RTE’s election results service provide interesting insights into how Irish voters made strategic use of transfers in this election. As ever there is much to pore over, but here are two interesting trends that I would draw attention to. Continue reading
Posted by Matt Wall
In today’s Irish Times, the editors of this site published a co-authored piece, calling on the next government to get off on the right foot in implementing their reform plans. We suggested several steps that a new government should take from the get go to demonstrate that campaign promises of political reform were more than just empty rhetoric. The parties have to be praised for taking on these issues, and for publishing their reform plans (admittedly in varying levels of detail) before the election took place. The parties put their plans on the table, and the people voted. In as much as the new government can claim a mandate for any action from the election, this government can claim a mandate for rapid and comprehensive reform. What we need to see now is the will and the courage to make some changes from the victors of the election. They must do so, because our politics is at the root of all of our current collective problems, and it will be at the heart of any eventual solutions.
