Derek McDowell flew in on the Spring tide in 1992 getting almost a quarter of the votes in Dublin North Central. He held on in 1997 but lost his seat in 2002 to Finian McGrath.
John Reddington -Independent -1999 LE Limerick December 10, 2009
Independent candidate John Reddington, who states ‘The party machines have done nothing for the people of County Limerick …..’
He later stood for Fianna Fail .
Invite to the 2005 Fianna Fail Ard Fheis
How special one must have felt when this arrived in the post, with an almost personal message from Bertie too.
Richard Bruton- vote 1 Jim Mitchell and 2 Mary Banotti- European Elections 1994 Dublin December 9, 2009
1994 European Elections, Fianna Fail and Labour are in coalition and Richard Bruton asks voters to vote no 1 Jim Mitchell, No 2 Mary Banotti.
Vote management for General elections in Dublin can be difficult to manage, however the Liffey provides a perfect boundary in European Elections.
Mary Banotti was elected, Jim Mitchell missed out.
The ‘Recent Events’ refered to, could have been anything from the Tax Amnesty to the Beef Tribunal.
Anne Colley -Progressive Democrat- Dublin South- 1987 December 5, 2009
Anne Colley, Daughter of George Colley, Granddaughter of Henry Colley (who lost his seat to Charles Haughey!) from the 1987 general Election.
With such a background it was no surprise when she joined the Progressive Democrats and subsequently topped the poll with well over a quota.
She lost her seat in the 1989 election and retired from politics.
Ernie Beggs – Fianna Fail 1991 LE November 23, 2009
Ernie Beggs running for Fianna Fail in 1991 local elections, his running mates were Tony Kett and Tom Stafford. Both Stafford and Kett were elected, Beggs got 593 votes.
An interesting title he had too ‘Fianna Fail Trade Union Co-Ordinator’.
Ernie Beggs later ran as an Independent… so must have fallen out with ‘Dublin Central Fianna Fail’…
Des O’Malley -Munster- Euro 94 November 1, 2009
1994 Euro Elections Munster constituency. A split in the PDs led to Pat Cox standing as an Independent and Des O’Malley standing for the PDs . Cox despite being behind O’Malley on the first count took the last seat.
It was O’Malleys first election not being the party leader.
‘Payback Time’ -Brendan Donohoe -SWP- South West Inner City 2004 October 25, 2009
Plenty of waste mentioned here by Brendan Donohoe in 2004. He didn’t know the half of it! He polled 308 votes.
1997- Bertie- “A Young Leader for a Young Country” ‘..in politics only to serve the people’
“A Young Leader for a Young Country” who on the inside of this doc is “A New Leader for a New Century”. The profile of Bertie “.. he is in politics only to serve the people” and other plaudits that in hindsight ring hollow.
This was one of a series of leaflets for the 1997 election produced by Fianna Fail. Some were on Crime, some on Drugs, some on Job creation and so on. The fact that there was a whole leaflet dedicated to their leader shows how much they played on ordinary Bertie who is in touch with the people. He was that important to them.
Berties Newsletter 1993 October 23, 2009
Berties Newsletter from around 1993 I think. Its some production and really illustrates the image on the ground as the person who gets jobs done. Literally every road in the area has had a problem addressed at Berties behest.
Mairead Duchon- Tax Reform League- Dublin South 1987
1987 and the tax burden on the PAYE worker was massive. The tax rates for PAYE workers were 40% and 65%.
Even after the tax marches of the 70s and 80s there was still a major issue in that sectors of society such as the self-emplyed/farmers and the super rich were able to avoid paying tax. In hindsight, we also know now of the non resident accounts, Ansbacher and so on.
As far as I’m aware, The Tax Reform League only fielded candidates in one general election and may not have been registered as a party at the time.
Their call to arms failed to excite the electorate with none of their candidates being elected. Mairead Duchon polled 1,253 votes.
From the records I have a second TRL candidate, Padraig O’Neill, may have stood in the constituency also, without much success either.
Catherine Murphy , Michael Enright -Workers Party- Leinster 1989 Euro Elections October 21, 2009
There were high hopes that both Michael Enright and Catherine Murphy could put down a marker for future Dail progress. A General election was held on the same day and it was hoped that their candidacy in the Euro Elections would give them a boost.
Although the Workers Party vote increased from 1984s Euro Election, both candidates lost their deposits with a combined 4.38% of the vote.
In the General election Enrights vote actually fell, whilst Murphys 1,520 vote was decent enough in the circumstances (An ‘Army Wives’ candidate, Carol Tiernan also stood in Kildare polling 2,690 votes, some of which would have gone to Murphy).
The thorny issue of party policy towards Farmers must have also had an impact on the vote. “Reorganisation of Agricultural production…”
wasn’t the policy to have rural voters flocking to the party. Also we had another new party ‘Logo’.
Royston Brady Fianna Fail – Dublin 2004 -‘Missing- Can you help?’
The 2004 European Elections and Fianna Fail have high hopes that Berties boy Royston Brady may help win a second seat for the party.
A popular Lord Mayor Brady was seen as having a great chance and opinion polls early in the campaign had him winning a seat……..
…then came a series of gaffes in interviews.. among them, being unable on a number of occasions to name the new countries joining the EU and also a claim that his fathers Taxi was stolen and used as a getaway car by the loyalists who bombed Dublin in 1974.
From hogging the limelight he suddenly went off the airwaves with a number of weeks left in the campaign. … This poster was seen around Dublin at the time.
Labour Party 1969 GE- ‘Instructions to drivers on polling day’ October 19, 2009
This is fantastic, gives a glimpse of domestic life in the late 60s as well as warning the many many pitfalls that may arise.
At the time too not that many had cars, so the Driver was a very important figure at election time, especuially in rural areas.
Yet You’d think that giving lifts to voters was a simple enough matter…….
Its full of handy tips
“Try to have your car as clean as possible….. do not take any alcohol while polling is in progress”
“…Encourage the women to vote early as this will leave the men free in the evening… ”
and of course “Don’t forget to vote yourself!”
Michael Quinn -‘Independent For Life ‘-Dun Laoghaire 1992 October 16, 2009
Michael Quinn was a pro- life Independent who later ran for the National Party. He polled over 1700 first preferences in the Dun Laoghaire 92 election.
He later became involved with the Democratic Right Movement.
Alan Shatter – ‘Star Trek’ 2007 October 14, 2009
From 2007, one of the most bizarre leaflets I’ve seen. Alan Shatter dressed up (or photoshoped) in Star Trek gear.
Comparing himself to William Shatner and lots more besides…. Shatter regained the seat he had lost in 2002. (his record at electionsireland.org)
Funnily enough William Shatners middle name is Alan, William Alan Shatner.
Alan Shatter ….Alan Shatner … Its a pity Alan Shatters not younger , otherwise there would be a chance that he was named Alan as a tribute to the Star Trek Actor!
I’ve pared down the size but given the amount of colour involved the images are still big.
Vision, With Purpose -Fine Gael 2002 October 12, 2009
Saw this and it bought back memories of the 2002 election, when Fine Gael were decimated. Each house would have got this in the run up to the election. I can visualize Michael Noonan saying ‘I want to see our public services become the envy of Europe’…..
… and wasn’t “Vision, With Purpose” one of the worst slogans ever.
So whilst Fine Gael had Michael Noonan witha shocking slogan, Fianna Fail had the blue eyed Bertie with ‘A lot done, more to do’
Alan Shatter -Dublin South 1987 October 11, 2009
Not quite the fancy stuff he produces now! At least it was a proper ‘Sorry I missed you’ rather than the pre printed ones we get now.
Irish Election Literature 
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