West Donegal broadcasting duo contribute to new RTÉ series Vótáil

Two west Donegal contributors will feature in Vótáil, a new RTÉ series that looks back at Ireland's love/hate relationship with General Elections and the hype of the campaigns.

Broadcasters Áine Ní Bhreisleáin and Caoimhe Ní Chonchoille from Gaoth Dobhair will provide input on the series, presented by RTÉ Radio1 Drivetime host Cormac Ó hEadhra.

2024 was the year of global elections and, with the ink still drying on ballot papers throughout Ireland, Vótáil explores some of the general elections and their iconic moments that shaped Irish society over the past 50 years.

The series serves as a reminder that, for many of us, politics is at its most entertaining at election time. Interviews with journalists and commentators who have lived and loved Irish politics for years, also including Harry McGee, Fachtna Ó Drisceoil and Cathal Mac Coille, will reflect on some of these key moments from over the last five decades.

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Viewers will sympathise with the voters of 1977, for whom inflation and the cost of living were the most pressing issues in electing a government; how the Garret Fitzgerald and Charlie Haughey face-off over three elections in 18 months tore the nation apart and when, in 1997, Bertie Ahern and his team persuaded the electorate to let them manage the Celtic Tiger boom.

Episode one begins in 1977, when the entire world seemed to be struggling with soaring inflation, unemployment and oil shortages, and here in Ireland, everything seemed even worse. Could Fianna Fáil oust a coalition government they blamed for the continuing pain? This was the time of Hall’s Pictorial Weekly and “The Minister for Hardship” after all. But this was a global crisis, so surely the country wouldn’t just fall for promises like scrapping car tax?

Episode two doesn’t just cover one general election, it covers three! All fought in just 18 months, two of the stars of eighties politics battled for supremacy – Charlie Haughey and Garret FitzGerald. Political polar opposites, their televised debates were the first in Irish politics and as vicious as any that have aired since then.

Episode two focuses on the 1997 election and a rare treat in Irish politics, a chance to take charge of a booming economy. On one side was a seemingly popular and successful government, the Rainbow Coalition, led by Fine Gael’s John Bruton, who then called a summer election. Would that play into the hands of the campaign supernova that was Bertie Ahern?

The final episode leads up to the “earthquake election” in 2011. After the crash, the guarantee and the bailout, the country was on its knees and the electorate was out for blood. It was never a question of simply losing for Fianna Fáil, it was a question of survival. The party that had been the dominant force in Irish politics since 1932 were in real danger of being voted out of existence. Could their new leader, Micheál Martin do anything to keep them in business? Episode one of Vótáil will air on Monday, January 6, 8pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.