It’s been something of a breakneck week, and I’m pretty much signed off for the weekend. As it happens, I had an analysis piece in the Daily Mirror at the beginning of the week… In it I argue that the council elections will probably be a more reliable indicator of party fortunes than the trench warfare of the Assembly elections…
The council results will also tell us something about the ongoing health of the parties. All face the problem of ageing representatives, and the councils will be a chance to bring on new blood. So don’t expect the earth to move on May 5th. But given where we’ve just come from, that’s probably the best news we can expect this early in the life of our new democratic institutions.
As our own FitzJamesHorse keeps reminding us, the whom and the where of council candidature will also have its own effect, and could be decisive in getting out what have been latent voters in past elections..
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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