The local elections saw many young bloods win seats as parties sought to reinvigorate their ranks. Is this the rise of Facebook canvassing – and how will their policies differ from the old guard?, asks HARRY McGEE
WHEN YOU ARE a 20-year-old student, life is straightforward. Take Eoin Coyne. Tall and fresh-faced, he’s from Youghal, Co Cork and has just finished his first year at UCC studying government.
Coyne is typical of his age group. He is on Bebo and Facebook, with home pages that scroll on like a magician pulling ribbons from a hat. He likes the Killers and the Fray, follows Chelsea, Irish cricket and junior hurling. He has about 14 hours of lectures a week and enjoys a good social life.
But this summer, as many of his friends head off for adventures abroad, Coyne will remain in Youghal. Indeed, the events of the past weekend will more or less confine him to base during the next five years.
Coyne is a new councillor on Youghal Town Council, having being elected on the first count in the elections of June 5th. He is Fianna Fáil’s youngest councillor, though not too far along the south coast, in Tramore, Co Waterford, is the man who holds the honour of being the country’s youngest councillor: 19-year-old Leaving Cert student Tom Raine, who has been elected for Fine Gael.
Coyne is realistic about what his election means: “I knew the commitments and the sacrifices. I knew all of that. I feel very strongly about the way the town was going and felt I had to do something.” Last week’s elections were notable for the sheer number of councillors in their 20s and 30s who emerged. It was no accident. All of the parties have developed strategies for bringing in new blood. Labour’s need is particularly acute – the average age of its TDs is almost 60.
Local elections are the portal for aspiring politicians and good “blooding” grounds for parties. Scroll back five years to the local elections of 2004 when the wider world was introduced to the likes of Leo Varadkar, Michael McGrath, Lucinda Creighton, Darragh O’Brien and Sean Sherlock. Within three years, they had all removed the stabilisers and were zipping along in the fast lane of national politics.
Of the parties, Fine Gael seems to have the most youthful feel and to have provided the bulk of wrinkle-free victors. The reason is simple. The party got a hammering in 2002 that necessitated a complete overhaul. Unlike Fianna Fáil, it had no “bed-blockers” – incumbent TDs who weren’t going anywhere.
What’s interesting about the young councillors featured here is how politics entered their lives at crucial, formative moments, and while for some, you sense personal ambition trumps ideology, for others, it’s the other way around.
ENTERING POLITICS
David McGuinness(23, Fianna Fáil) was elected to Fingal County Council. He is a music and history teacher. "I'm from the Corduff estate in Blanchardstown. The lollipop lady at our school (Margaret Richardson) became a Fianna Fáil councillor and I started dropping pamphlets for her.
“When I was growing up, Fianna Fáil was the only party with a strong presence in a working-class estate such as Corduff.”
Rebecca Moynihan(27, Labour) is from Rialto in Dublin's south inner city and was elected to Dublin City Council. She chaired Labour Youth from 2002 to 2004. "I decided to get involved when I was 16. Where I lived, in Fatima Mansions, there were drug problems. I decided to do something. I wanted to campaign. I joined Labour Youth and took part in campaigns against third-level fees, the scrapping of community-employment schemes and the Iraq war."
Pa O'Driscoll(26, Fine Gael) from Fermoy is a member of Cork County Council and a former president of Young Fine Gael. "There was a choice on campus in UCC between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. My family connection was with Fianna Fáil but I couldn't join them. At the start it was about having the craic but there was also a serious side. I worked in Dublin for four years. I taught there. I made the decision about 18 months ago to give up the job and move home to give politics a go."
Catherine Yore(24, Fine Gael) is from near Kells and was elected to Meath County Council. "When I was 17, [Fine Gael TD] Damian English came to my house to canvass. He spoke to my sister and me. I was really impressed. When he got elected, I worked alongside him."
Catherine Noone(32, Fine Gael) is a solicitor and was elected to Dublin City Council in the South-East Inner City ward. She is from Claremorris, Co Mayo as is her friend, the TD for Dublin South East, Lucinda Creighton. "I was very involved in Lucinda's two campaigns. Originally I had no intention of standing. But when asked I gave it active consideration. It had crossed my mind. It quickly felt right at the time. Fine Gael did not have a councillor [in the area] for 15 years. I went for it.
Niamh Smyth(33, Fianna Fáil), from Baileborough, is a member of Cavan County Council. "I was a teacher in Dublin but I came home when I took up a job as arts officer with Monaghan VEC. I then created an arts centre out of nothing here in Baileborough at the Wesleyan Centre. I got to know everybody. When I came back I joined the local cumann of Fianna Fáil. I had an uncle who was a councillor. It just developed from there."
YOUTH
Eoin Coyne:"I felt that I could bring enthusiasm to the town council and bring a perspective that it had never had before, being only 20. The next youngest is 38. My slogan was a 'new fresh voice for Youghal'."
Eoghan Murphy(27, Fine Gael) from Sandymount is a member of Dublin City Council in the Pembroke-Rathmines ward: "My generation was very different to the generation that came before. With the Celtic Tiger, our experiences were different. We travelled more. Now my generation is going to carry a significant amount of the burden. I feel that politics in Ireland needs to change. We need to get new people.
“National politicians are consumed with local issues. More people write to Richard Bruton about parking around Croke Park than about economic problems.”
O’Driscoll: “I never mentioned my age on one piece of literature. I suppose it was obvious from the posters that I was young. It’s very easy to change the face but not the politics. You need more than just youth.”
Noone: “I do not know if I was seen as a young one like a few others in the area. I did not run on the youth aspect. I did not use Facebook. I hope I am seen as a little experienced. At a meeting of the Fine Gael group the other day, somebody asked who the negotiator would be. I had to force myself to keep my hand down. I am a litigator in my work. I am not too green. At least I hope not.”
Yore: “The council does need energy and it does need youth . . . It is you and your ideas that are important.”
Smyth: “I am in junior infants when it comes to experience. But when the time comes for the first council meeting I will be full of enthusiasm for it.”
Moynihan: “I am sure I will make a fool of myself now and again. Absolutely. Over the last few years, political thinking has got lazy. There was so much money. Now, we do not have it any more we need to think more laterally to solve the problems.”
O’Driscoll: “I am idealistic and enthusiastic. I have lots of ideas about how to change the way local government works.”
CAMPAIGNS AND TECHNOLOGY
Coyne:"I used Facebook and Bebo. They were a help. I got in contact with friends and made new friends. It was for those people who never look at leaflets and don't read newspapers."
Eoghan Murphy ran a slick, image-heavy campaign supported by up to 50 canvassers: “I think it helped that I was young and my campaign team were young and were getting involved. We attracted a large younger vote.
“Facebook played a huge role. It’s not a vote-getter, not yet. Still, it was the best way to organise if you wanted to get your people out. It also acts as a multiplier, and helped target my core constituency of young people.”
Yore: “There was no broadband in my area until three weeks ago. I did not have a Facebook site. In a local election, you cannot do it without meeting the people.”
McGuinness: “I had 800 friends on Bebo and 400 friends on Facebook. It’s a new way of getting elected. Over 1,000 people were following my pages on the internet.”
Moynihan: “When you are on the go constantly you have little time to update Facebook or Bebo pages. I don’t really know how effective they were. Garrett Tubridy [Fianna Fáil candidate] had a very flashy campaign and used a lot of technology.” He failed to get elected. “The traditional method of knocking on doors in a local election is still be the most important.”
DÁIL AMBITIONS
McGuinness: “I could not see past June 5th beforehand. I will take it one step at a time. When I entered politics I wasn’t looking at becoming taoiseach or even a TD.”
Noone: “I would not rule anything out. I am very happy with my current job [as a solicitor]. I will see how it will go.”
Murphy: “I came home from Vienna to pursue a career in local politics. In the long term, I will be involved in public service. One day, if I could serve this constituency in the Dáil, that is something that I would love to do.” Moynihan: “Ideally I’d like to spend at least five years on the council. I need to make sure that I do it properly. I didn’t run in 2004 because I thought I was too young.”
O'Driscoll: "It was thereason I gave up my job in Dublin. I want to give it a good go on the council – I would hate if it didn't work out. I have to work [on the council] first before thinking of a general election."
Coyne: “I would be lying if I said I had not thought about [becoming a TD]. At the moment I have a five-year spell in Youghal. I will think about it when the time comes.”