A Dublin Neighborhood at the Sharp End of Ireland’s Election Issues

Europe|A Dublin Neighborhood at the Sharp End of Ireland’s Election Issues

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/29/world/europe/ireland-election-general-dublin.html

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In a northeast neighborhood of the capital city, deprivation and affluence exist side-by-side, and many voters feel frustrated by the status quo.

Campaign posters hanging on lamp posts and the facade of a derelict building on Sean McDermott Street in northeast inner-city Dublin, Ireland, on Nov. 27. In a recent election poll, Ireland’s three major parties, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin, were neck-and-neck, with 21 percent, 20 percent and 19 percent, respectively.Credit…Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times

Nov. 29, 2024

On the lamp posts in northeast Dublin, campaign posters are stacked one on top of the next, the faces of prominent politicians and newcomers competing for attention ahead of Ireland’s general election on Friday.

But Janice O’Keeffe, 44, who was collecting a cup of coffee on Thursday morning from a cafe on Sean McDermott Street, said she was still undecided. One thing was certain: She was fed up with the establishment.

“They’ve had 100 years to prove themselves and they haven’t done much,” she said of Ireland’s two main political parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

The two parties, both of which are broadly center-right, have run the Republic of Ireland for alternating periods since the founding of the modern Irish state in the early 20th century. At the last general election, in 2020, neither won a big enough majority to govern alone. So, along with the Green Party, they formed a coalition that kept out their main opposition: Sinn Féin, which had won the popular vote for the first time.

As Ireland heads to the polls, many voters have voiced disillusionment with the government, citing issues like the steep cost of living, health care and immigration.

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Sinn Féin supporters rally outside government buildings in central Dublin. The left-wing nationalist party is encouraging voters fed up with the current coalition government to vote for them as the only serious opposition.Credit…Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times

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