electronic activism in support of world development

national | miscellaneous | press release

Thursday November 25, 2004 12:46

by pollitical animal - World Development PAC

Irish Government lobbied to honour their commitments to the world's poorest

email campaign underway to lobby government to honour their commitments to the world's poorest.

Subject: Update: Lobby your PD/FF TD/Senator to honour their commitments to the world's poorest.

----Update 25/11/04----

PD TDs in particular seem to be falling over themselves to get back to constituents
and assure us of their support in principle, at least... Encouraging, keep
calling (once a day is all we ask) untill you get a call back from the TD/Senator
themselves and they understand how concerned and 'exercised' you are about
this issue.

FF backbenchers have, in general, been slower to come forward. Keep calling (once
a day is all we ask) untill you get a call back from the TD/Senator themselves
and they understand how concerned and 'exercised' you are about this issue.

Ministers can be trickier. You are far more likely to reach a constituency secretary
or similar at the minister's office rather than the voicemail you'll get
at a lowly TD's or Senator's office. You are likely to get some interference
about the minister's portfolio being elsewhere etc. If you do get this line,
firmly remind the functionary that you are contacting the minister in their
capacity as your local deputy, that you are one of the minister's constituents
and stress your voting record if you've ever voted for her/him. This should
bring the matter to ministerial attention and generate a commitment for
a follow up letter. You are very unlikely to get a minister on the phone.

Generally all of this should take no more than 15 mins on the first day, less
on following days.

Further updates to follow.

----Original Message----

Subj: Lobby your PD/FF TD/Senator to honour their commitments to the world's poorest.

The Taoiseach's pledge to the UN General Assembly to increase our direct
foreign aid to 0.7% of GNP by 2005 was instrumental in Ireland's recent
election to the UN Security Council.

Contact your Government TD/Senator to remind them that your first preference vote
in the next general election will (or may) be conditional on their fulfilling
this promise.

A word to the wise, because of their smaller size the PD's number of deputies returned
is even more sensitive to the number of first preference votes recieved
than FF's. Just a quirk of STVPR.

:)

Remember many Senators will be running in the next Dáil election.

Find your local deputies at...

http://oireachtas.ie/ViewDoc.asp?fn=/documents/members/default.asp&CatID=41&m=m

Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Leinster House, Dublin 2. Ph: +
353 1 618 3000

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