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On 7 June the people of Ireland will be asked to cast their ballot in the local and European elections, but many people will stay at home.
Nationally, the turnout five years ago was 50.2%, or just slightly over one in two.
When it came to local authorities, turnout was highest for elections in Co Leitrim, Co Mayo and Co Roscommon, while turnout was lowest in Dublin constituencies (Fingal, South Dublin and Dublin City).
When it came to local electoral areas, the highest turnout was in Ballinamore in Leitrim at 66.9%.
The lowest turnout was in Tallaght South, 26.9%, which includes the Jobstown area where RTÉ went to ask people about their voting intentions.
Most people said they would not be voting in five weeks time, and generally did not vote at all.
Many put the reason on the failure of their local representatives to properly engage with them or to uphold their election promises.
One woman said: “I just I don’t know enough about it. I probably don’t have the interest because I just feel that they all promise you this and that and then they never carry through.”
“What’s the point really, to be honest?”
Among those who will be voting was a man who said: “People died for our people to get a vote like, you know, it’s important that we do vote. It’s our country so we want to rule our country. It is the people own the country; you know.”
A young mother said she did not think she was registered, but added she would not be voting and did not think any of her friends would be either.
“I am impacted by everything but it’s just having the actual information … Obviously the housing crisis is awful. Like I’m living in a house with seven people,” she said.
The woman added: “My brother is there with his child. I’m there with my child. It’s just disgusting and there’s not enough HAP (Housing Assistance Payment) places either.”
Quizzed further as to why she does not vote, given housing was a major issue for her personally, she said: “I don’t see any change and there hasn’t been any change. So, what’s the point really, to be honest?”
Another woman said politicians knocked on her door and promised her help but when she followed up with phone calls there was no answer.
‘Vicious circle’
Martina Genockey represented Tallaght South from 2014 to 2019 as a local councillor for the Labour Party. She said people where she is from are interested in political issues, but many just feel the system has failed them.
“They’re very interested in what’s going on for them and their lives and general political issues. But I think a lot of people don’t think that voting is going to make any difference,” Ms Genockey said.
“Councillors on the ground might know the issues and might know what needs to be done, but they often don’t have the power. The power really lies with the management in local authorities.”
Ms Genockey called on people to go to the polls and cast their ballots, urging people to avoid “a vicious circle” whereby, she said, “politicians aren’t really that interested in the areas where people don’t vote”.
She added: “But if people did get out and kind of use their voice then people are going to be more interested to come and talk to them and work for the area.
“I can understand why it’s not people’s priority and why they don’t think there’s going to be change, but there certainly won’t be if people don’t use the vote that they have.”
Charlie O’Connor served two terms as a TD for Fianna Fáil in the Dublin South-West constituency and is a departing councillor for the Tallaght Central area.
“It’s very important that politicians keep in touch with their community, listen to their community, not hide from their community and, you know, people come to you when they have issues. Don’t forget, why does a person come to a local politician?
“Because they believe that the system is not working for them and that their local politician, whatever their preference is, can help solve that problem and that’s what democracy is about. And it’s very important that we do that,” Mr O’Connor said.
“I feel more justified when I say ‘see that such and such a councillor, he’s useless’.”
‘Anti-social behaviour’
Robbie Conlon, manager of the Jobstown Community Centre, also encouraged people to vote. He said one of the main areas people wanted tackled was the anti-social element in the area.
“The Jobstown area, and all the local areas around here – Fettercairn – there’s lots of working-class people here. They’re out working hard. During the day, they’re trying to raise their families and give them a better future,” he said.
Mr Conlon added: “But there is 5%, 10%, of anti-social behaviour going on. Certain criminal elements who are making people of the local community stay inside their doors, not come out to frequent parks, get to know their neighbours, the new neighbours, because we have a lot of immigrants coming into the area as well.”
Two regulars at the centre always vote at election time, but question if they are being listened to.
One of the women said: “So the local politicians that come to your door looking for your vote, every election they promise you the sun, moon and stars and they don’t deliver whatsoever.
“When they knock on my door, I give them a list and tell them to come back and they never come back.”
The other woman said: “A couple of families where I live, for want of a better word, we call them antisocial. And when you complain to the council about that they say, ‘Oh, uh, have you got photographic evidence?’.
“‘At 12 o’clock at night?’ I asked them. They said: ‘Oh, well, we can’t do anything.’
“From my point of view, that is them saying they don’t want to know. They just shove any sort of riff-raff into the housing estates in Tallaght. One garda, I heard him say one time, ‘Sure they eat their young up there’. So, if that wouldn’t dishearten you,” she added.
Despite feeling a disinterest from authorities, the woman said she always votes.
“My vote might not count for a lot as regards who gets elected and who doesn’t, but it will make me feel better, and I feel more justified when I say ‘see that such and such a councillor, he’s useless’.”
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