[ILUG] Canvassing and politicians

[Éibhear]

Mark Dennehy wrote:
> On 23 November 2010 12:51, Éibhear <eibhear.geo at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi,
>> I am a member of The Green Party, and we have just submitted a proposed
>> IT
>> policy document for ratification by its National Council [See below on
>> the
>> process involved].
>
> Not to be offensive, but a green policy document that hasn't even made
> its way through the internal Green Party policy process yet is never
> going to see the inside of the Dail, let alone the statute books. Even
> one that had made its way through and was now in Bill format would
> probably never see the light of day given the current political
> climate.
> It's simply not relevant to any discussion regarding the next decade in
> Ireland.

For a great number of people, I would agree that the matters of national
IT policy are not high on the agenda right now.

However, that doesn't mean that those who are interested shouldn't try.
Your own experiences notwithstanding, giving up before we try is, to one
extent, counter-productive.

My original reply was to Kevin's request for information regarding what we
should be asking the politicians on matters of interest to members of this
mailing list. If he had asked a different questions, I would likely not
have replied. As it happens, while I'm a member of the party, I am not a
politician, just a volunteer who has chosen a vector through which to
attempt to bring in change.

I failed to make clear in my e-mail that I am a member of the IT Policy
Group in the Green Party, and our contribution is provided from positions
of specific interest, experience and expertise. There are others in the
party who will be familiar with some of the topics, and the requirement
will be to accord them the opportunity to comment and review on the
policy. That's why there is a review process. The leadership will be
consulting us even if the policy isn't finally ratified before the
election. This up-coming election has taken us unawares, but there you
are.

If you want to be critical, I think it would be more helpful for members
or representatives of the other parties to post their own answers to
Kevin's question. That way, we can all compare and contrast.

In the absence of such replies all you have is an honest reply from an
honest broker. I can offer nothing more than that.

Éibhear

>
> --
> Mark Dennehy
>
>


-- 
Éibhear Ó hAnluain
Gibiris.org
Dublin
Ireland