General Election Date, Election 2016, Fine Gael, Labour, Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail
There are growing expectations
among Government TDs and Senators that Taoiseach Enda Kenny will announce
Friday 26th of February as the date of the election.
Mr Kenny is expected to
divulge the date of the election to Tánaiste Joan Burton and ministerial
colleagues tomorrow morning ahead of the Coalition’s final Cabinet meeting.
Gerry Adams TD with his Serial Rapist Brother Liam Adams
It remains uncertain if the
Taoiseach will seek the dissolution of the Dáil tomorrow or Wednesday.
His colleagues said today they
expect him to make the announcement in the Dáil before driving to Áras an
Uachtaráin to make the formal request to President Michael D Higgins.
Minister for Agriculture and
Defence Simon Coveney has said the Taoiseach has not shared his thinking on the
election date with colleagues but that he expected him to disclose it tomorrow.
Sources close to the
Government said the decision will definitely be made this week, with a polling
date of either Thursday 25th February or Friday 26th February. The latter date
is considered the most likely.
Holding the general election
on a Thursday would run the risk of excluding many young voters from casting
their preference, according to the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI).
The organisation has urged
Government not to hold the upcoming election on a Thursday following
speculation that polling day could be moved forward.
With an announcement of a date
by the Taoiseach said to be imminent, there has been mounting speculation that
some within Fine Gael favour a Thursday election due to the likelihood that
tens of thousands of potentially sympathetic voters will be leaving for London
on Friday to follow the Ireland rugby team for its game against England that
weekend.
Labour deputy leader Alan
Kelly has publicly expressed his preference for a Friday vote amid suggestions
that the question of a date is causing tension between the coalition partners.
NYCI president Ian Power said:
“Excellent work was done in 2015, particularly leading up to the marriage
equality referendum - and so far in 2016 - to get thousands of young people
registered. A Thursday election would undermine this and prevent many from
casting their vote.”
He said: “For the 2011 general
election, the youth voter turnout was 62 per cent, up 12 per cent on 2002
levels. If we want to maintain and enhance youth turnout, we need to support it
through Friday or weekend elections.
“There are up to 460,000 young
people entitled to vote. A Friday vote would facilitate the large numbers that
are away from home at college or for training or work, to return to vote.”
The organisation’s deputy
director James Doorley added that it would be “disappointing” to see a Thursday
vote.
“It would be disappointing if
Government set Thursday as the polling day, as the majority of young people
surveyed in the past have indicated that weekend polling was very important to
encourage their participation,” he said.
