Today, Friday May 1 a new and innovative website www.localelection.ie, will be officially launched providing voters in Mayo with a unique insight into all the candidates running in the forthcoming local election. This is the only information website that focuses exclusively on Connacht for election 2009. The site is designed to inform the public of all the candidates running for the Local and European Elections with regard to their track records and manifestos. As well as featuring candidate profiles the site also offers a podcast facility which will enable the public to hear and see the candidates in action. The website will be a vital educational tool for the electorate in finding out more about the candidates in their area.
Orla Gibney, Promotions Manager, localelection.ie, believes that this is a unique and innovative website, focusing exclusively on the west of Ireland and providing both candidates and voters with the opportunity of knowing exactly what issues are relevant to the respective areas of the county. Commenting on the new exciting website Ms Gibney said: “When we decided to set up this website we were extremely conscious of the need to make the site user-friendly and informative. People are now starting to think long and hard about who to vote for and there is definitely an interest amongst voters to find out more about who is running in their area.”
“Everybody knows the significance and power of the internet nowadays,” she added. “The fact that people can easily log on to the site and quickly find out what the candidates have to offer makes this a site that should really ignite people’s interest in the election. In the past people have been critical of politicians for not making their pitch to the public readily available so I think this site will definitely afford people the opportunity of making themselves more aware of both the candidates and the issues.”
The Mayo public will be able to access the site when it goes live on May 1 with many of the electoral areas and town council candidates on view for voters to see and hear at the simple click of a button. Candidates will also be able to have their news releases uploaded on the website on a daily or weekly basis that will keep the Mayo electorate fully updated on the issues that are most important to them.
