FF 7/4 to win Donegal SW

Thats just the bookies view, I'd lay FF at 10/1

Its a poor field to be fair. A agree with you re the FF comment and imo they have no chance.
The Shinner will win and 2/5 is very fair if todays poll is any guide.
FG are some clowns they could not put up a decent candidate for a seat that is very winnable

If FF win this there really is no hope for us.

It really beggars belief that FF will get any sort of vote in this by election, I truly despair for us if this is the case. Maybe there is a problem with our democracy in that every thick is allowed to vote......There might be some hope for the country if we were to have some sort of IQ or aptitude test to bar stupids from having a vote...perhaps the tragedy of having Bertie and his cronies destroy the country might not have happened

The FF candidate is the slickest operator I've seen from them in a while.

McBrearty is a shambles of a performer. Doherty laughed him off the panel on Browne last week.

Last nights show was high in comedic value. Peter Power now has 2 holes to use while sitting on the pot.

Again could not agree more with TF's comments.
Power came across as a bell end of the highest order but then again they all do from FF at the moment.
Was listening to MCBrierty on Pat Kenny this am and the man has trouble speaking not to mind articulating himself.
He was a big mistake but Labour.

Doherty is out on his own in this election. It's a shame he is not with a bigger party as he comes across very well. He will be wasted in Sinn Fein

McBrearty is complete and utter bluster. No substance just shouts loud. Hope Doherty wins it.

O'Dohmnall is not universally popular within the FF grassroots up there and if they can't get that section out en masse they will be in trouble.

FF will not win this

Not a hope in hell of a sitting government party winning a bye-election

Hasn't been done since 1982 and it won't be done now

Jack Charlton wouldn't get elected as a FF candidate at the moment

The 7/4 is a trap bet for mugs

I was up there on Tuesday, FF posters everywhere, they have certainly got Party workers and money behind the campaign. They think they are born to rule.

There is no F**king chance of FF winning this. SF are buying money material and i never use that phrase

Whatever small chance they had (which was none) it is gone now anyway after Lenihan had to do a 180 this evening.

The Irish are thick but not that thick (myself included)

ONE HUNDRED AND  EEEEEEIIIIGGGHHHTY !!!!!!

Did Jonny Ward tip yer man from FF so?

Man-of-War will be seething

The poor electorate having to get a rep out of this sorry bunch.......It does look like Pearse Doherty will be able to enter the big boys house and shout across the floor at whatever pick n mix will be running the country.

It almost seems irrelevant in the overall now.

I guess at the end of the day FF get their. They will not be in power and nobody else will either.

Apathy is not the word

SF 1/12 last night when I checked.

Any one up in Donegal know how this is going ? turn out, general feeling up there ?

Fingers crossed this will be the first blow for the traitors, to give them a sense of what's to meet them on the door when they coming knocking in the new year.

low turnout. Believe it or not the Traitors would have had a chance with the low turnout if the recent debacle with the banks had been kept under wraps.

Cheers lustrumm,

thats shocking you would think that with all the unemployment up in donegal they would want their voice heard. I know a couple of lads from up there, but they are working in Dublin, not sure if they are going up to vote.

I always felt a low turnout was likely ....for these reasons at least-
-Cold day ..older voters profile  here with so many young people away
-FF voters will opt for no show rather than turn up to switch  ( those who switch will switch to SF)
-Other FF voters know the game is up and will tune out
-Not voting is a form of protest ''against the system''.

I'd say the weather was the biggest deterrent. + they would lose all the voters working in Dublin that might have made the effort on a Friday. Students as well lost

To be honest I am at breaking point myself. I just watched an interview with Brian Lenihan on France 24. The interviewer asked him how he could stand over his views when it looks like the whole Country thinks differently. Lenihan came back with the statement that he is stopped every day on the street by "The silent Majority" who tell him to keep going and he is on the right track.
Lenihan has now crossed into the dangerous category and that of the Adolf Hitler mode. I am told he is terminally ill and will be gone to his reward within 6 months. His last remaining ambition is to push through the budget. It has been quite clear to us all now for soem time that he is out of control.
Furthermore if the likes of me can now he is near then end his political coleagues must know

Why does he want to take us all with him. Was surreal this morning hearing ollie rehn speak subtly about a structured default on bank debt, Richard Bruton echoing the comment on another station and then Michael Martin say no way that every cent to be paid to bondholders. Why are they intent on bringing the country down

In 10 years time we will be looking back asking that question.
Soemone needs to get the 2 Brians into a room with a waterboard and not come out until the truth re the meeting with the bankers in Sept 08 is told.
We have to know what hold those guys had/have on them

All I can think of is either
a) that they are still stuck in the old mentality that were are an economic powerhouse and that we can turn it around but need the help of the ECB and do everything they say regardless of the cost and are blind to every other possibility, or
b) they are receiving a hell of a lot of 'presents' for saving bondholders billion
The problem may go deeper than the two Brians and into the top of the dept finance and so even when they are gone the same thinking persists. There needs to be a clear out at the top of some of the departments.

Bye election live from Primetime. 52-55% turnout. Exit poll FF hole opened.

Sinn Fein wins. Surprisingly the FF vote held up at 20%. Fine Gael got their reward for running a bell end although he will fall into a seat at the General election in all probability.

I have to say that Doherty is a fine speaker and he will be wasted in Sinn Fein

One last comment.

Here is a quote from me from last week

"Was listening to MCBrierty on Pat Kenny this am and the man has trouble speaking not to mind articulating himself"

Let that be a lesson to all parties. If you run bad candidates they will be exposed. The people are not that stupid.
Labour and FG take note

The people are not that stupid. Yes Yes they are --> Surprisingly the FF vote held up at 20%

Great stuff, didn't care who it was as long as it wasn't the Traitors. Agree you with regarding the Labour candidate.

20%?
Stupid Donegal fkers!

i agree with down

I guess there are 2 ways of looking at it 50 down to 20% or as Down says how could 20% of people actually vote for them.

Unfortunately their demise will not be that easy to bring about. In many places where there are 4 or 5 seats they will be in contention for that last seats by default alone. That is why they will never go below 20% of the vote.

Let us take this by election for example. The Sinn Fein canditate is the only runner and duly wins. However a lot of people know this is only a protest vote for now and cannot bring themselves to vote for Sinn Fein. Thus they have 4 options
1. Fine Gael. The guy has no personality and was never a runner. Huge mistake by Fine Gael but as a standing Senator I guess they had no choice.
2. LAbour. See above
3. Pringle. Well he got 10% which is a good show considering he had no profile.

So all of a sudden you are in the booth what do you do?

It ie easy for those of us that are younger to say no way bit for someone voting Fianna Fail all their lives it is hard not to give them a turn when there is no other option

Fair point 30% drop.
I suppose I was being unrealistic.

Its actually a bit more serious than that for FF.

50% of the Donegal SW electorate voted FF in 2007 and by all accounts that is pretty standard for this area - one of the most FF constituencies in the country. Based on that you would expect very conservatively, 30% of the DSW electorate would be 'hard-core' FF.

Since only 2/10 voted FF as opposed to 5/10, thats 3  'lost' or 'no shows' out of 5.......60% eradication of their last known support base.

If that is replicated in the General Election then......[:(][:(]

It will make for car crash TV for sure as we watch men and women that have spent 13 years with a Merc under them fighting for the last seat.
On Radio 1 earlier a FF party man said Mary Coughlan would nor even be on the ticket in Donegal South West. Now that is wrong as the National Executive for FF states that incmbents have the right to go on the ticket unopposed but it is still a fair dig at lipstick Mary