To vote or not to vote? |
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That is the question, whether it is nobler in the mind to abstain from Westminster than to take one’s seat in Leinster House. Oh! cursed spite that politicians were born to set things right!
This philosophical turn of mind has been brought about by a not inconsiderable amount of soul searching on my part. I’ve read all the literature — Fianna Fáil, The Republican Party; Sinn Féin, A New Opportunity for Peace; Fine Gael, Give ‘em the Lash!; Democratic Left, Rusty Guns Under the Table; Labour, work with us to stay unemployed; The Green Party, This is recycled paper, please use again for appropriate purpose. It has been a culture clash over the past few weeks of electoral furore. Everybody is everything and everything is true. Alex Maskey can toast the Queen of England and commemorate the heroes who fired the shots on Bloody Sunday. Mrs McCole didn’t die. John Bruton claims to have a sense of humour. Bertie Ahern is a Republican. Dick Spring calls on people to vote Sinn Féin (Well, his Da was an IRA man according to Ian Paisley). You can take the man out of the bog but you can’t get rid of the crap, etc. Peace we are told is spelt P...R...I...C...E by removing the R. The actual cost is cheap. In fact, a total bargain. Take it now — pay later. Bruton again insists he has a sense of humour. Dick Spring speaking in Derry shows he really does have a sense of humour. “Up the Provos an’ God save Ireland!” he is quoted as saying or words to that effect. Nobody’s laughing anymore except Tony Blair and his unionist friends. I am being asked to make a choice. But there are so many. I am being asked to cast my vote. Three or four weeks ago during the English election fiasco in the Six Counties I was asked to vote to free Ireland. We’ll teach the Brits a lesson I was told. We’ll show them, really shake them up. But they seem cool enough to me. Not quite a Canary Wharf type of reaction to them. Now again here in the Free State we have the opportunity to free Ireland, wipe out unemployment, control hepatitis infection, stop marriage breakdown and ‘take our rightful place among the nations of the earth’.
It’s quite simple, all we have to do is vote.
And after the election remember all is not lost. Think of all those pieces of paper and remember the advice of the Green Party. Re-cycle and use for appropriate purpose. Figure it out for yourself. Good Luck.
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