Dissolve this for headaches…

And so it is done

This morning our noble leader, el Bertie, got our President to dissolve the Dáil (parliament) so we could have an election on the 24th of May. This is one of those rare occasions when something gets dissolved in order to create a headache.

For a start, the Constitutional challenge to our Electoral Boundaries is still be be heard. One can only assume that a roll of the dice is being taken here on the assumption that the High Court (and possibly the Supreme Court) would view, on balance (yada yada) that the disenfranchising of consitutents who are currently under-represented in our Parliament is slightly less embarassing and legally problematic then not actually having a government to run the country. This sheer arrogance in the face of our Constitution and the rights of citizens to be represented in proportion to the population in their area is gonad numbing in its scale.

Students and Commuters – Who needs ’em!

From time to time I lecture 3rd level students. Not so long ago I was one myself. Now I’m a commuter. Calling the election for the 24th of May (right in the middle of university exams) disenfranchises students. Given that on the 24th of May I’m scheduled to be working 3 counties away from where I live, I’ll have to take a day of work to exercise my franchise. So will a lot of other commuters… you can’t exactly pop home on your lunch break if it takes you 2 hours to travel there and back. If my gonads weren’t already numbed by the nose-thumbing that the Constitution has received, I’d have numb ones now.

Dear My Boss,
I will be unable to report for work on the 24th of May due to an increased numbing of my gonads caused by the arrogance of political leaders who choose to disenfranchise me by calling elections in the middle of the week.

My GP informs me that if I can restore my Number 1 preference to its correct order I might be back in work by June.

Yours

Me

I really hope that a large number of students and commuters make the effort to vote that day – but to vote the arrogant and insular leaders that we currently have out of office.

Could it be that the Commuters can see on a daily basis the failure of our infrastructure planning and the total failure to connect dots and provide for people’s quality of life might have been seen as issues that would put them in the ‘anti-incumbent’ camp?

The Taoiseach’s timetable

The media coverage has been peppered with references over the past few weeks to the fact that the whole decision rested with one man – El Bertie. So he has made a decision on the basis of his personal timetable. I wonder what his drivers were? Maximising the numbers of voters who might be able to turn out obviously wasn’t one of them. What could it have been I wonder?

Certainly not the investigation into his alleged involvements in planning corruption that is to be conducted by the Mahon Tribunal over the coming weeks … oh, hang on… the Tribunal will shut up shop on that part of their investigation for the duration of the election.

What a coincidence.

Constitutional Challenge

However, the Constitutional Challenge trundles on with a trial date likely next Thursday. At that stage we’ll know just how many other voters will not have their voices heard, or at least not heard as loudly as they should be.

That rumbling you hear are the dice rolling…

… Mr McGarr over at McGarrSolicitors has his thought also.