Frank Dobbs flyer from 1987 in Sligo Leitrim. The text is as corny as you’ll get.
What’s unusual is that four years later in the 1991 Local elections Frank Dobbs stood for Declan Brees Sligo-Leitrim Independent Socialist Organisation.
Some conversion….
In the wake of the Lisbon 2 result, Cóir are considering becoming a political party. This is some of the election literature of Richard Greene one of the main Cóir spokespeople. Greene initially elected a councillor for the Green Party in Clonskeagh, left and founded his own party Muintir na hEireann. This is some of his literature from the 1997 General election.
There are many gimmicks to get a voter to hold on to your leaflet, it may list telephone numbers of local services, be a fridge magnet calendar , a sporting fixtures guide, a match programme….. and then there’s the quiz!
A nice picture of yourself on the front and A Quiz where you also sneak yourself in as two of the answers on the back!
This is from 2002 GE in Dublin North. There have been a number of candidates and groups going under various Fathers rights banners. The Fathers Rights-Responsibility Party being possibly the most prominent.
John McGettrick stood in the 1992 General Election for the ‘Arrow-Owenmore Drainage Committee’. It was ‘Now or Never’ back then. It turned out to be ‘Never’.
Eddie Cogan in the 1985 FG Ballymote literature had ‘drainage of the Owenmore and Arrow rivers’ as one of his priorities ‘when elected’
The 1985 Local elections Ballymote LEA. The Fine Gael ticket of Eddie Cogan,Leo Conlon,Neil Henry, Tommy Lavin, Tony McLoughlin and John Perry. Current Fine Gael TD John Perry wasn’t elected. The leaflet also urges voters to ‘continue your preferences for the Labour Party’. There was no Labour Party candidate.
The Independents Health Alliance fought the 2002, fielding 8 candidates with Finian McGrath being elected. Amongst the other candidates were former Limerick hurler and manager Tom Ryan and the then Independent Councillor (now FG) Molly Buckley.
A very aggressive looking leaflet from Pat Carey in 1997. Oddly enough its similar in colour to the Good Friday Agreement leaflet that went to each house.
The web address at the end of the leaflet was fairly hard to remember too. That campaign featured some fairly negative leaflets from Fianna Fail and wonderfully positive oness from the Rainbow parties. Some of the language is Haugheyesque “Fianna Fail… have never failed to provide for Dublin North West”…
John Goodwillie’s 1997 manifesto from Dublin South Central. Author of many articles in papers and periodicals over the years also.
From the 1999 Local Elections, Progressive Democrat candidate Jason O’Mahony. Jason O’Mahony polled 442 votes and failed to win a seat.
He is now known to many for his site jasonomahony.ie .
This is the front page of a PD paper type manifesto from 1987.(Apologies for the scan but its two scans put together like a jigsaw, so I’ll do the rest of the pages at a later date).You may need to click on the image to see the full details
Whats brilliant is the following bill put forward in 1986 which included the following….
-Ending pensions to sitting TDs
-Terminating the Senate
-Reducing the number of TDs from 166 to 120
-Reducing the number of junior ministers from 15 to 7 …etc
Does that ring a bell anyone?
This is from around 1990 , mentions Red Wedge and the reader would be under no doubt that the Labour Party were Socialists. Also covers issues related to the time such as Apartheid.
Patricia McKenna in what I think was her first electoral outing. She was Roger Garlands Dail Adviser and co-secretary of the European Greens.
As an Artist I presume she did the wonderful cartoon herself.
A flyer advertising an Irish Anti War Movement meeting in Sandyford to be addressed by Glenda Cimino, I think it was in 2003.
This is an interesting little pamphlet where we have a Labour party ‘a socialist alternative’. Very much of its time in both the articles on the falling of Communism, The National Question, our Health Service, Women at Work and also the ads.
It also features some of the late Jim Kemmys poetry.
Click on the images if you have difficulty seeing the whole page.
In the 1987 General Election aside from the TDs, Senators and councillors with a Fianna Fail background the PDs also had a number of candidates whos fathers were ex Fianna Fail Ministers. Amongst them Anne Colley and Martin Gibbons were both elected.
One who stood but wasn’t elected was Frank Aiken in Louth. This is his 1989 manifesto.
A request came in for more Sean DBL…. This is from the 1992 General election.
Sean Dublin Bay Loftus (also known briefly as Sean Dublin Bay Rockhall Loftus), was elected to the Dail on just the one occasion in June 1981. He lost his seat 8 months later at the Feb 1982 election (maybe that’s why he has “A Fixed Statutory Dail term of 5 years” in his manifesto) . He Stood in Dublin North Central.
Sean isn’t in favour of Coalitions…. instead he favours that the major party does a deal with a bunch of Community Candidates rather than say The Labour Party! …
Plenty of other decent and interesting policies also. To see a proposal 20 years ago that would fit today…
Reduction in Number of TDs and A Politicians Pay Freeze.
An Abortion Referendum was held on the same day as the 1992 Election and Sean was very much ‘Pro-Life’, he advocates a No vote.
From the landmark 1990 Presidential Election a leaflet promoting Mary Robinson as ‘A President with a Purpose’. The leaflet has also an endorsement from Dick Spring.
Irish Election Literature 
Recent Comments