Tuesday, May 01, 2007

South Dublin County Residents: Check if you are registered to vote

South Dublin County Council maintains the voters registers of residents within its administrative area. To check if you are on the 2007 register, please visit http://www.sdublincoco.ie/sdcc_ero/searchengines/Electoral_Search_Form.asp

If you live in another local authority area, information on how to check if you are registered to vote can be found on www.checktheregister.ie/

You may apply to be added to the register provided you application is received no later than 14 days before the polling day (Sunday and Public Holidays and Good Friday excluded). The date for the 2007 General Election has been announced as Thurs 24 May 2007, so the latest day for application is Friday 4th May 2007.

SDCC: Refuse Collection May Bank Holiday Weekend

There will be no refuse collection service in South Dublin County on the May Bank Holiday, Monday 7th May 2007.

Householders whose refuse is normally collected on a Monday will receive their collection on the previous Saturday 5th May 2007.

Refuse bins should be left out by 7.30 a.m. for collection.

Please ensure that your roadway is kept clear of parked cars/vehicles on refuse collection day so as to ensure refuse freighters can gain access.

Please note that in accordance with the Bye-laws governing the presentation of waste, the lid of the bin must be fully closed.

The Council has received complaints of bin tags being stolen in some areas. Accordingly, the tag should not be placed on your bin before 7.30 on the morning of your collection.

Green Bin Collection
Householders whose green bins are usually collected around the 7th of the month should check their Green Bin Calendar for alternative arrangements or contact the Oxigen Helpline at 01 - 462 4459.

www.sdcc.ie

Parties vary online with their Candidates presentations

Candidates lists have exercised the minds of some of the visitors to the DSW Blog in recent weeks. Here is how the main parties handled the online challenge:

Fianna Fáil have an excellent list of candidates, grouped by constituencies and with clear photographs of the candidates on their Website at http://www.fiannafail.ie/candidates.phpx The visitor can search by constituency by text link or simply browse through the list. Further information on a candidate can be viewed by clicking on a "More" link.

Fine Gael's system is not dissimilar. Under "General Election Candidates" the party displays both a text list of constituencies and an image map of Ireland, divided into constituencies. However, the visitor has to click on each short-list candidate to view a photo and the candidate's bio, making the process slightly longer than on the FF site.

The Labour Party's presentation shows a text list of 204 people, both sitting Councilors and General Election Candidates. One has to scroll through the list, which goes onto several pages, to view the candidates and the list is not very user friendly in this respect. There is no single list of General Election candidates. But, on clicking on a candidate's name, one may also be taken to an option to view a You Tube video of the candidate in action at the Labour Party Conference 2007. Assuming, of course, the candidate spoke at the conference.

Sinn Féin's presentation of candidates is very straighforward and easy to find on its home page. Its list shows a photo of each candidate, the constituency and a short bio, together with a "View More" link.

The Progressive Democrats have no obvious link on their Home Page to the list of candidates. (There is a "Focus on..." link at the foot of the menu showing a random candidate, but this is not an obvious way into the list). One must visit any other page by using the selection of links across the head of the page before seeing a menu with "Our Election Candidates" on it. The PDs' list shows a photo, the name of the candidate and the name of the constituency. One must click on the candidate's name to view the bio. However, there is quite a good news archive accompanying each bio.

On the Green Party's website, there is a prominent "Election '07" link, which, like Labour, leads to a text list without any photos. It is, however, a much shorter list to navigate. One must click on the candidates name to view a photo and contact- and biographical-details.

The Workers Party website wasn't functioning when I tried to visit it.

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