Sure My Vote Won't Make A Difference

Politics is the Marmite of our society, you either love it or hate it.  Personally I try to keep abreast of both local and national politics, after all I am a tax payer with a mortgage who has his own personal views on aspects of life.

However, generally I tend not to vote come election day as I dislike the tribal politics that Our Wee Country brings.  Its a choice of either Green or Orange, with bread and butter issues like the Economy, Health Services etc. put to the back of a Manifesto which concentrates on either staying within the Union or joining with the Republic of Ireland.  I'll be honest I do have an opinion on this but my main concerns are being able to pay my bills and having a job.  This is a major reason why I want to move to mainland Britain to live where the bubble that is Northern Ireland is free from sectarian lines, and the issues affecting our daily lives are at the forefront of politics.

In this Election however, I did vote as a friend was standing in my constituency.  If he wasn't I doubt I would have bothered, sure my vote won't make a difference anyway.  Isn't that how a lot of us felt?  I know a few people who didn't vote for that reason.

My attitude to voting has now significantly changed after last nights General Election results... seeing Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew win the Fermanagh/South Tyrone seat by 4 votes (21,304 votes)! Apparently 16 spoiled ballot papers had T.U.V. scrawled on them in protest as no T.U.V. candidate was standing for that seat, only an Independent Unionist Rodney Connor.  If 5 of those voters had of voted for Rodney Connor (21,300 votes) instead of spoiling their votes Fermanagh/South Tyrone would have a different Member of Parliament tonight!  The moral of the story is that EVERY VOTE counts in an Election and in future I will always be casting my vote! It is even more poignant as in other countries people are denied their civil right to vote, so we should be thankful we live in a democracy!

On the other side of the country Naomi Long of the Alliance Party ousted Peter Robinson of the D.U.P. in East Belfast, surely the shock of the Election?  Seeing an Alliance M.P. is a breath of fresh air in Northern Ireland politics, however, to burst Naomi's bubble slightly, she only won the seat due to the Robinson scandal and the subsequent protest votes rather than her own campaigning as she believes.

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