Don’t Get Mad

at

Anon writes:

I saw people yet again being enraged by something unforgiveable [Senator] Rónán Mullen said (this time his comments about Savita), and yet again no conversation about the fact that loads of people could be voting against him, but aren’t registered.

So I made this flowchart (above) and web page (below with sources and links)

Ronan Mullen Flowchart

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41 thoughts on “Don’t Get Mad

  1. Christopher

    I wish it was so easy- the Seanad field at the last election was HUGE- I think there were about 15 candidates standing. You cannot simply vote him out- you have to vote the others above him and it’s not very clear who his main opposition would be- infact he topped the poll on first preferences by quite a large margin so it’s basically impossible to unseat him.
    I know that sounds defeatist but I have been trying for two elections to figure out how to beat him and you MUST have 3 candidates identified for the “anyone but Mullen” group to vote for and to vote for strategically. But yest, stage one is to get registered.

      1. Tulip

        The “anyone but Mullen” group needs someone to get behind. There were 30 candidates in the last Seanad election for the NUI constituency. It’s difficult to know who to vote for.

        On the other hand, Mullen gets a lot of first preferences but relatively few transfers (see results here: http://www.nui.ie/elections/seanad_Election_2016/SE_Election_2016_Final_Result.pdf). He’s certainly got the backing of the Opus Dei brigade, but probably little other support.

    1. VinLieger

      Going off this, would be very interesting to know who his base are and how they organise to get him elected with so many first preference votes, the only way to beat him is to know how he does it himself

      1. newsjustin

        My guess is he’s well known and has name recognition. And a significant (enough) portion of NUI graduates share his broadly pro-life views.

        Contrary to popular myth, not all students or former students are pro-choice.

        1. newsjustin

          It is weirdly complicated to be sure your registered to vote (in my experience). Thought I was registered, vaguely remembered voting in the post, turns out I wasn’t. Why isn’t every NUI graduate automatically on the register?

          1. pedeyw

            Also why is still limited to NUI grads despite the fact that that particular referendum was passed 30 years ago?

        2. MJ

          There’s also the fact that NUI graduates used to be registered automatically once they graduated, then they stopped that practice, some time in the 90s I think, and graduates started having to sign up manually. So that means a load of older voters got their vote without any effort, and younger ones have to go to the effort of signing up. It’s very undemocratic really, the whole thing from top to bottom – that only graduates of certain colleges can vote, that the registration process is so awkward, etc etc.

          1. MJ

            And yeah, I think that’s a big part of why Mullen has such a solid base – older conservative voters are more likely to be registered and to vote in this election.

        3. MJ

          I think also – Mullen’s base is highly motivated because there really aren’t that many politicians like him left. The kind of people who send bloody fetus dolls to RTE need to have someone to vote for. Apart from a few mad-eyed loons (like Mattie McGrath, Fidelma Healy Eames, Michelle Mulherin) there aren’t many who are as Old Testament / ‘the altar boys were asking to be molested’, as Mullen. I hope it’s because they’re a dying breed.

    2. MJ

      Christopher, you’re right that the field last time was way too cluttered, with way too many candidates. It would be great if people worked together to put one very strong pro choice candidate up against him. But it does make sense to try and get more people registered – if people mobilise there is a chance that it could have an impact on his seat.

    1. Daisy Chainsaw

      He’ll fail as dismally as when he tried to be an MEP. When you only need a small number of votes from a large voting pool, it’s easy to get elected to the special needs wing of the Oireachtas. Running with the big boys and girls is an entirely different kettle of fish.

      I do hope he runs for election. It would be nice to watch him seethe as he gets roundly defeated.

  2. TheRealJane

    I’m NUI and haven’t voted every time (huge field, unclear aims) but if there’s a candidate who can be clear that they’re anti Mullen, they have my vote.

    1. rotide

      Suppose they’re Anti-Mullen and pro life? Or Anti Mullen but vehemently FG? Or Anti-Mullen but hates women etc etc etc etc

      You’re better off voting for someone whose politics you actually agree with rather than wasting your vote on a bandwagon issue like the morons who voted for brexit.

      1. The Real Jane

        Yeah, you see, I’m an actual woman so abortion isn’t a theoretical issue for me. I think most reading this thread would understand that anti mullen is probably choice, pro woman, anti clerical domination of public life.

        Of course, you are fully aware of this but are being obtuse simply for the purposes of being tiresome.

  3. dav

    What did he say?
    I’m guessing something along the lines that because she was a heathen she deserved to die…

    1. Anne Gularvelo-City

      He said if I see another post about blushirts this or that I’ll become a pro late term abortion campaigner

    2. pedeyw

      He said that if Abortion was legal she wouldn’t have been in hospital because she would have had an abortion long before, implying that she didn’t want the baby in the first place and that actually Ireland’s stupid laws were saving life.

      1. dav

        ah,. did he ask for us to join in with a decade of the rosary, the 8th sorrowful mystery – the ejaculation…

          1. dav

            well just drop a note to leo’s propaganda office, they’ll run the numbers and if it’s Thatcherite enough they’ll do it..

  4. Cian

    Wow. Graduates these days aren’t a patch on the graduates of my day. Bloody snowflakes.

    We are able to understand the intricacies of ‘getting onto the electrical register’ and ‘how to vote’.

  5. Bs

    I suggest everyone simply remind him on a daily basis via his twitter and Oireachtas email what a disgusting and and reprehensible person (thing) he is

    1. MJ

      I would say – don’t waste time giving out to him, he’s never going to change his ways. Get your friends to register and vote against him instead.

  6. ahjayzis

    I just feel sorry for him. He can’t be a happy person. No one is that obsessed with strangers lives and happy in themselves.

    1. MJ

      I nearly feel sorry him – he’s a very tragic figure in many ways, about 45 years old and obsessed with other people’s sexuality. But any time I start feeling pity, I remember that he has dedicated his life to fighting rights for women, rights for LGBT people, justice for victims of clerical abuse, just to name a few. He’s a horrible person.

      1. Brother Barnabas

        Don’t feel sorry for him. He’s a malevolent, mendacious individual in a position of influence and he’s skillfully abusing that influence, He’s a danger,

  7. GoddessDurga

    Mind you, even if he only gets 0 votes, he can be appointed to the Seanad by some wimmin’-hatin’ party or politician.

  8. Candy Crush Guru

    What else does he do in the Seanad besides objecting to ProChoice activity
    Has he any other agenda in addition to his Pro-Life advocacy?

    Anyone?

    1. Cian

      Anti-same sex marriage when that was an issue. Expect him to be against the referendum to remove blasphemy as an offence and the one to cut our ridiculous divorce period.

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