Did Gerry Adams presence in Dublin help the yes vote ?

dublin | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis Sunday October 04, 2009 09:10 by John C - None none none

Local representives should have been to the forefront.

When Michael O’Leary joined the yes campaign I thought to myself that this would actually be beneficial for the No side. For most Irish people, O’Leary’s arrogance and clown antics are irritating the best of times. He did not appear to be as knowledgeable as Declan Ganley on the overall text of the Lisbon treaty. O’Leary just kept repeating the same two points over and over again, the Commissioner and taxation. I thought that O’Leary’s support for the Yes side was a blessing in disguise. I believed that his personality alone would drive some people to vote No.

The same can be said about Gerry Adams. For more than a week before the referendum Adams was interviewed on RTE’s Six One News every evening. There’s absolutely no doubt that Adams support for the No side was a put off for some voters. Each evening RTE interviewed the various canvassers for both the Yes and No side. Each evening Adams was interviewed and gave his parties reason for supporting a No vote. On every occasion that he was interviewed Mary Lou McDonnell,or Aengus Ó Snodaigh was seen standing behind the party leader in total silence. I would normally blame RTE for been one-sided or biased, but on this occasion I felt that Adams gave it to them on a plate. Could he not resist being in the forefront ?

As witnessed in the General Election results of 2007, most Southern people don’t really have an appetite for Mr Adams brand of socialist politics. Making an assumption based on the General Election results of 2007, it would be fair to say that Gerry Adams would not be popular in the 26 counties. I imagined that the intellectual ’’Think Thank’’ in Belfast that directs Sinn Fein would have concluded that Adams presence in Dublin during the campaign to secure a No vote might in fact be a obstacle for the No side. He could have been there in the back round instead, with the local TD’s to the forefront.

Adams unpopularity in the 26 counties did not do the No side any good. Why did he not step away each evening on the Six One News and let others do the interviews. It would have come across much better to have Mary Lou McDonald, Aengus Ó Snodaigh or Arthur Morgan interviewed instead. I was amazed then to see the absence of Adams on the Six One News after the defeat of the No side yesterday. Having seen Adams on the Six One News every evening leading up to the Referendum he was now no were to be seen. Instead of Adams been interviewed we now had Sinn Féin Vice President Mary Lou McDonnell, a bit late I thought. I know Adams gave an interview in Dublin Castle after the result, but my argument is in relation to the main evening news on RTE, that’s what most people watch.