According to the website IrishElection.com, its traffic has tripled since Saturday evening, with a large number of visitors looking for information on the latest Bertie Ahern payment story.
"With Ireland finally getting online and commute times increasing, more-and-more people are using the net at home -- and particularly in the office -- to read up on election news and to research the candidates," said Cian O'Flaherty, spokesperson for the site.
"This is the first Irish election where the internet is being fully utilised, and since the election was called our traffic has been increasing rapidly on a daily basis."
Although the general election campaign is now underway, the topic generating most interest on the site in recent days has been revelations concerning Bertie Ahern's latest payment controversy. The scandal arose over allegations that the Taoiseach's former partner, Celia Larkin, received STG30,000 from businessman Michael Wall, which was used to carry out work on a house in Drumcondra, Dublin rented by Ahern. It's claimed that this house, which was owned by Wall, was left to Ahern in a 1996 will made by the businessman.
IrishElection.com isn't the only source of Irish political information online, and the main parties all have websites. Most are taking advantage of blogs, social networking sites and online video websites like YouTube to push their political messages.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Ciara O'Brien
Quelle/Source: ElectricNews, 02.05.2007
