As a candidate in the next Irish general election, I am often asked to sign up to pledges, binding me to support certain laws as a TD. However, as I will allow my constituents to have a binding say in my votes in the Dail and potentially to over-ride my positions, I cannot commit to pledges that may conflict with my obligation to implement digital, participatory democracy. This stands regardless of how much I may personally agree with the policy in question.
The only pledges that, thus far, do not conflict with my commitment to allowing the people a direct say on politics are:
- The 1 Year Initiative (1Yi)
- Reinstate 48
- The Referendum on Repealing the 8th Amendment
All of these pledges commit the candidate to holding referenda, rather than being bound to specific outcomes. This aligns perfectly with my own commitment to giving people a say in politics and I have therefore been able to sign up to all of these initiatives.
However, while I am definitely committed to letting my voters overturn me from the beginning on their own initiative, I think it is still worthwhile setting out how I intend to vote in the event that that does not happen. These positions are set out in the Policies section of this website.