Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)

Others feel they are making a stand against the system and getting their own back by not voting. Perhaps the political parties are guilty to the extent that they do not recruit new members. Recruitment is almost a forgotten art. I cannot accuse every party of not recruiting new members but many of the major parties ignore the public. If one asks why someone joined a party he or she will say it was the only party that invited him or her. When one joins a party one is indoctrinated, to an extent. That is how the party operates. The member enjoys the tap on the shoulder and the feeling that in the party's eyes he or she is special.

Many people have a very low opinion of politicians in general, whether that be right or wrong. There may be many reasons for that. People are surprised to hear that, like schoolchildren, we get our summer holidays at the beginning of July. The perception is that we are a group of self-serving people. I am not unique in working here for a minimum of 90 hours a week, but that message is not delivered to the people. It would not sell newspapers. It is easy to criticise the system and we are the butt of that criticism and that will continue to be so.

If people who do not vote understood what some people have done to win the vote they would appreciate that right. For example, there was a time when women did not have the right to vote or to education. In 1913, Emily Wilding Davison threw herself in front of the king's horse and died in order to win the vote for women.

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