Showing posts with label #RSF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #RSF. Show all posts

Election 2024 - The Other Important Issues

Ireland's General Election will take place on Friday November 29th, 2024. Overall, 685 candidates are running across 43 constituencies for 174 seats in the next Dail or Parliament. 

Much of the focus and discussion so far has been on what the mainstream media have dubbed 'Auction Politics' as politicians and their parties try to better each other with promises of various benefits if elected. Examples include, free university fees, child care benefits, dropping the USC charge, reducing the VAT rate on hospitality and so on. 

While many of these areas are genuinely important, the relentless competition for votes between the different party candidates means that the conversation around a few core issues (cost of living, housing, healthcare) tends to dominate the media coverage at the expense of other topics.

In this episode, we take a closer look at the three main party's manifestos to see what they have to say about some of the other important issues. Specifically, defending Ireland's democracy, our values and our freedoms, the role of the Media and Press freedom, as well as the party's positions on Foreign Policy, supporting Ukraine, plus their positions on Defense and Security.


Date of Recording: November 26th, 2024.


Portrait pictures of the leaders of Ireland's main political parties (L to R) Micheal Martin, Fianna Fail, Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Fein, Simon Harris, Fine Gael
The leaders of Ireland's main political parties (L to R) Micheal Martin, Fianna Fail, Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Fein, Simon Harris, Fine Gael

DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information on the topics discussed in this episode:

  • All of the manifestos referred to in this podcast are available on the party's websites


Audio transition: Sound Soul by Diamond_Tunes, Pixabay

#GE24, #FiannaFail, #FineGael, #SinnFein, #Defenddemocracy, #AuctionPolitics, #CriticalThinking, #ETNC, #MERICS, #RSF, #Russia, #China, #Taiwan, #Vote, #Ukraine, #ForeignPolicy, #PressFreedom, #Security, #Defence, #Defense

Wolf Warrior Peace Brokering

 At the end of April, China's ambassador to France, Lu Shaye drew the ire of many countries when he commented in an interview on French television that Crimea belongs to Russia and that former Soviet states lack legitimacy. While China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly retracted the statement, the incident amplified doubts as to whether China can be an impartial peace broker in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Jojje Olsson (@jojjeols) is a journalist and author based in Taiwan and the owner-editor of Sweden's biggest news site about China, kinamedia.se. He wrote that "China's statement about 'illegitimate' Soviet states should be taken seriously".

Jojje joins me on this episode of Perspectives with Neilo to discuss China's ability to be an impartial peace broker, the significance of wolf warrior Lu Shaye's comments, and the subsequent phone call by Xi Jinping to President Zelenskyy 14 months on from the start of the Russian invasion.

We also touch on Jojje's own journey and how conditions for journalists in China have changed in the past decade.


Date of Recording: May 12th, 2023



DIVE DEEPER

Additional information and references on the topics covered in this episode;


Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)