Party of the Week: Pirate Party of Ireland

This week's Pirate Party of the Week is the Pirate Party of Ireland.

Will the Pirate Party of Ireland participate in any upcoming elections? Please tell us about your expectations for the next elections you will participate in.

As with most of the parties throughout the Pirate Movement we would hope to be in a position to field candidates in our next general election in 2012. There are of course many calls for an early general election due to the severity of the recession and the governments willingness to pile on a ridiculous amount of debt all to bail out banks that now have no visible inclination to start lending again.

With any luck we will get an early election (fingers crossed) but it is highly unlikely. What is also unlikely is that there will be any by-elections held. Currently there are 3 seats vacant in the Dáil for various reasons and the government is not holding by-elections simply because their majority is sustained by only a small number of seats and if they were to lose even one by-election it could be catastrophic for them in terms of remaining in power.

Were these by-elections to be held at any point in the future we would hopefully be in a position to contest the seats.

In terms of what kind of numbers we need to get a seat in a given constituency the best way of showing would be to give you a look at the figures for the last general election which can be seen at http://electionsireland.org/results/general/30dail.cfm

The initial page for each constituency can be confusing as they show first preference votes rather than total votes after votes have been transferred. You see in Ireland we use the Single Transferable Vote system. To see the full count details just go to the count details tab. For anyone that is unfamiliar with STV you may find this link helpful in understanding how it all works. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Transferrable_Vote

What are the core topics of the Pirate Party of Ireland? Are there topics that are unique to the Pirate Party of Ireland, something that distinguishes them from other Pirate Parties?

Beyond the standard goals common to all pirate parties (copyright/patent reform etc) we have no set political agenda. The Pirate Party of Ireland is set up in such a way that we will rarely, if ever, have any party policies outisde of the central PP goals. At least for the forseeable future of course.

This allows the party to behave in a truly open manner. Unlike every other party in the sphere of Irish politics we are not bound by the whip system. Our members are free to have their own views and opinions on all matters and have the right to express those thoughts and opinions.

Tell us more about the inner structure of PP- Ireland.

When the PPIE started out we were nothing more than a small few idealists. We had no plans in place for how things should work other than a sample constitution that had been drafted by an even smaller group (2 people).

It was decided in the first few days that the party needed some structure and a guiding influence to get things set in motion. To that end we created a setup committee consisting a total of six people which changed over time when people joined the committee or were unable to help out due to other pressing matters.

As the party grew and we started to attract some small amount of media attention we found that the committee had very little time to deal with many of the administration tasks that were required of them. In fact the committee as a whole realised that the committee itself had served its purpose and was no longer needed.

It was several months ago that the setup committee was disbanded and the opportunity for people to put themselves forward for "leadership" roles within the party but as yet there has been limited interest in these positions. As the party stands now the only "leaders" are a small team of website admins and several volunteers tasked with general administration work such as writing news posts and press releases.

Due to a server switchover there has been limited activity over the last number of weeks unfortunately so the work of the volunteers has gone mostly unnoticed.

If you think 5 years ahead, what will be different compared to today's situation?

Ideally: The PPIE would hold a majority in government and would create a utopian society out of the shattered remains left behind by the current government.

Realistically: While we would hope for an election victory resulting in at least one Teachta Dála (Member of Parliament) we can only assume that we will not achieve this goal though we will do our utmost in the pursuit of that outcome. It would be a much more realistic though still somewhat unlikely outcome that we would reach the minimum percentage of the vote required to get funding for the party which would enable us to better contest future elections. In terms of numbers we will require 2% of all first preference votes at a general election to qualify for state funding.

How do you manage to keep your financial balance? Do you have any special fund-raising methods? How can people support PP- Ireland?

To date the party has not asked for any money from any of its members. Most costs are covered by any member of the party that wishes to pay for them as and when they arise. Usually these costs are paid for by the website administration team. The party does not currently take donations of money either.

We have not decided as yet whether or not we will eventually charge a membership fee like most Irish political parties but for the forseeable future we will not be seeking mandatory payments from members.

How many members does PP- Ireland have at the moment? Can foreigners become members of PP- Ireland?

The PPIE currently has 319 members each with varying levels of activity within the party. Currenty the only two requirements are:

1. You are on the register of electors
2. If you are not on the register of electors you must be aged 18 or over and be a resident of Ireland.

These are not limitations that the party has set willingly but they are limitations laid out in the legislation regarding political parties. These limits can be relaxed once the party has been officially registered.

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• Pirate Party of Ireland Website: http://pirateparty.ie/
• Pirate Party of Ireland on Twitter: http://twitter.com/piratepartyie
• Pirate Party of Ireland on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pirate-Party-Ireland/96928887549

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