Depressing news emerging from colleges

[Saoirse go Deo]

The main Dublin colleges have now all held their "freshers", where students join various clubs and societies. All the main political parties have a presence.

I've been informed that Ográ FF are now the largest political society in many of these colleges, having largely recovered from a disastrous year last year.

I honestly cannot understand why young people would join FF, they are the party who have utterly ruined the fantastic future they were promised. I read yesterday that emigration is now at it's highest since the famine.

These students who join FF, in my experience, and I've asked a fair few, struggle to articulate why they joined - I suspect they are ashamed to say the real reason - networking and trying to get on the gravy train.

[Holly]

Follow the money.

[Dr. FIVE]

Few people signed up for a free pen and their involvement will end there

Means nothing,

[Saoirse go Deo]

Few people signed up for a free pen and their involvement will end there

Means nothing,

You have to pay to join...

[Slim Buddha]

Of greater concern that a few remedials paying for an FF biro is the Times Education Ranking of colleges/universities where the two main Dublin universities are outside the top 100. UCC and Maynooth are somewhere in the 300s.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.u.../range/001-200

Maybe the FF biros and the sliding rankings are somehow related?

[Griska]

I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Any fresher student worth his/her worth will be too busy shagging and drinking around this time to join any political group.
When the inevitable hangovers and heartbreaks happen, it should balance out.

[Dr. FIVE]

You have to pay to join...

wha? FF and all the other parties would have their stall set out in between the drama & Harry Potter or whatever society. They're probably releasing figures of the amount of email address they collected with a naught added on the end. They will get a fraction of that as active members and what fecking use will any of them be if they have level the of judgement to join Fianna Fáil

No reason to believe a word out of that shower.

[C. Flower]

The main Dublin colleges have now all held their "freshers", where students join various clubs and societies. All the main political parties have a presence.

I've been informed that Ográ FF are now the largest political society in many of these colleges, having largely recovered from a disastrous year last year.

I honestly cannot understand why young people would join FF, they are the party who have utterly ruined the fantastic future they were promised. I read yesterday that emigration is now at it's highest since the famine.

These students who join FF, in my experience, and I've asked a fair few, struggle to articulate why they joined - I suspect they are ashamed to say the real reason - networking and trying to get on the gravy train.

So disappointing - one day the ULA disappears like a miasma dispersing, opening up a clear road to world domination, and the next day, Fianna Faillettes pop up mid lane to block the way

[fluffybiscuits]

The main Dublin colleges have now all held their "freshers", where students join various clubs and societies. All the main political parties have a presence.

I've been informed that Ográ FF are now the largest political society in many of these colleges, having largely recovered from a disastrous year last year.

I honestly cannot understand why young people would join FF, they are the party who have utterly ruined the fantastic future they were promised. I read yesterday that emigration is now at it's highest since the famine.

These students who join FF, in my experience, and I've asked a fair few, struggle to articulate why they joined - I suspect they are ashamed to say the real reason - networking and trying to get on the gravy train.

Some SWP'ers were telling me about some FG heads who went up to them in a Dublin college once and told them "We kicked your arse in the Spanish civil war" to which the SWP'ers responded "So you are fascists then?" , the FG heads didnt know what to say! We have to watch this at the colleges, we dont want the FF/FG/Lab axis rising from the ashes, tehre is a nail in the coffins of the future of of each of them, lets hope it stays that way...

[Saoirse go Deo]

So disappointing - one day the ULA disappears like a miasma dispersing, opening up a clear road to world domination, and the next day, Fianna Faillettes pop up mid lane to block the way

haha

I don't think it necessarily means they are "on the comeback", it's just the fact that students would join, even of they won't lift a finger, Fianna Fáil that is so depressing.

[unspecific]

The ULA is beginning to build in the colleges this year for the first time which is hugely positive.

Students and the young are being frontloaded with the attacks by the gov because they're seen as a soft target and can more easily be forced out of the country or into unpaid internships. I would imagine most just hope to survive and get out and nobody can blame them really. Just look at the unions letting (the few) new entrants take a massive wage cut relative to their work colleagues and youth unemployment at 40% or an unpaid jobbridge in a Tesco is your alternative.

[jmcc]

So it was a "If you want free beer, sign here." application form?

Regards...jmcc

[People Korps]

So disappointing - one day the ULA disappears like a miasma dispersing, opening up a clear road to world domination, and the next day, Fianna Faillettes pop up mid lane to block the way

Think James O Reilly an amateur stroker caught with his pants down versus a party that can give the young cadre stroke telfon ...it is a no brainer my dear CF The youth lead the way

[Slim Buddha]

Some SWP'ers were telling me about some FG heads who went up to them in a Dublin college once and told them "We kicked your arse in the Spanish civil war" to which the SWP'ers responded "So you are fascists then?" , the FG heads didnt know what to say! We have to watch this at the colleges, we dont want the FF/FG/Lab axis rising from the ashes, tehre is a nail in the coffins of the future of of each of them, lets hope it stays that way...

The FG heads didn't know what to say because FG and FF never articulate any sort of recognisable political philosophy. There isn't any there. Fundamentally, Ireland missed any kind of ideological debate on political philosophy and, upon independence, found that such trifles as ideological core beliefs and the like were luxuries that could be ill-afforded to a new state trying to find its feet.

All the evidence suggests that we are still trying to find our feet. Especially the electorate.

Hence the FG/FF free pint/biro/T-Shirt or whatever to induce the students to sign something with because they cannot put any sort of ideological argument forward with which they can convince their target audience. The target audience, expecting a pint or a biro or T-Shirt or something are certainly not expecting a political or ideological debate. And on it goes. A mindless vacuum, perpetuated out of habit more than anything else.

[CMK]

The FG heads didn't know what to say because FG and FF never articulate any sort of recognisable political philosophy. There isn't any there. Fundamentally, Ireland missed any kind of ideological debate on political philosophy and, upon independence, found that such trifles as ideological core beliefs and the like were luxuries that could be ill-afforded to a new state trying to find its feet.

All the evidence suggests that we are still trying to find our feet. Especially the electorate.

Hence the FG/FF free pint/biro/T-Shirt or whatever to induce the students to sign something with because they cannot put any sort of ideological argument forward with which they can convince their target audience. The target audience, expecting a pint or a biro or T-Shirt or something are certainly not expecting a political or ideological debate. And on it goes. A mindless vacuum, perpetuated out of habit more than anything else.

FF are successful at recruiting in colleges because they concentrate on the social aspect of political life: mingling, networking, building friendships. A lonely 18 year on a campus far from home has a choice between debating the Russian revolution, the Spanish civil war or the wisdom or otherwise of the Popular Front in the 1930s with a ULA linked party, or the hyper-liberalism of the Labour party OR they can join a political group where the focus is on drinking, socialising and there are lots and lots of attrative members of the opposite or same sex running around (i.e. the FF society). Its a no-brainer. My understanding is that in one college the FF society would bring nearly all of the new freshers off to Brussels for a weekend either free of charge or heavily subsidised. The social connection is what suckers students into FF. I wouldn't read to much into it. FF will groom those who look like they might be politically worthwhile and discard those they have no use for. The unspoken caste system within FF only really kicks in when members reach adulthood. Most people do things at college that they're subsequently embarrased about; joining FF is one of those things.