Straw poll in NUIG reveals Gallagher as frontrunner

By Colette Sexton

A survey of twenty NUI Galway students revealed that the presidential campaign is Sean Gallagher’s to lose. Gallagher is the frontrunner in the race, with 30% of the vote. Martin McGuinness and Michael D Higgins are both on 10% while David Norris and Mary Davis are both on 5%. None of the respondents gave their vote to Dana Rosemary Scallon or Gay Mitchell.

Sean Gallagher... Pic Google Images

Among the students interviewed was Deirdre Gleeson, 23 year old MA in Accounting student, who revealed that she is voting for Michael D Higgins to edge him into the Head of State position above Martin McGuiness:

“I don’t want Martin McGuiness to win. Michael D Higgins has a lot of political experience. He is dignified and I think he would be a good representative for Ireland.”

However, some NUI Galway students are going against the mainstream trends. Sue Hynes, a mature student, indicated that she would be giving her vote to Mary Davis because of the work she has done for Special Olympics Ireland:

“I am voting for Mary Davis because of what she has achieved for Special Olympics Ireland although I don’t think she will win. The polls so far show that she doesn’t have a lot of support.”

Others were more concerned with the drop in support for David Norris in an election where he was frontrunner for a long time and then slid to the middle of the polls behind Gallagher, McGuiness and Higgins. Darragh O'Neill, a 19 year old Arts student, explained the fall in support for Norris:

“Originally I was going to vote for David Norris because I thought he would be a good president and diplomat but now there seems to be so many skeletons in his closet and stories are emerging about him every week that I think someone with a cleaner past, like Michael D Higgins or Sean Gallagher should get it.”

A national campus poll which surveyed 1,962 students last week revealed that Michael D Higgins is the most popular candidate among third level students. The poll was conducted in UCD, Trinity, UCC, DCU, UL, NUI Maynooth and NUI Galway.

However, a worrying trend emerged among students in NUI Galway in both the nationwide poll and the straw poll. In the national poll, only 57% of NUI Galway respondents intended to vote. In the straw poll, 30% of respondents do not intend to vote. Although some polled revealed that they were not interested in politics, the majority of them said they would not be able to vote because polling day is on the Thursday.

Many third level students are registered to vote in their home counties as opposed to their college residences. The Fianna Fail government had changed the trend of holding polling days on Thursdays to Fridays, which enable students to vote in the general election 2010, the local elections in 2009 and the second Lisbon treaty in 2009. However, the Fine Gael Labour coalition has reversed this change without explanation, leaving many students unable to fulfil their democratic right to vote.