First blogpost of the the 2011 year might as well be interesting...
Might as well address a topic we all have opinions about...
But it is difficult to find a fresh angle on Irish politics... eh?
This is the story of a project that began weeks ago in a café in Glanmire, Cork, Munster, Ireland. It began with me rejecting the idea of having anything to do with politicians. I told a local politician there was no way I was going to support his campaign for election to the Irish parliament.
I'd had enough of politicians - was unwilling to commit myself to the cause of any individual or party. I had a bit of an outburst and went have a coffee to cool down. [This audio piece even shows I wasn't sure of the proper name of the politician: called him "Conway" rather than "Gilroy"]
Then I starting thinking. First, I regretted the strength of my words, thought I could have been gentler. Then I realised I didn't have an alternative to politics - I was irrevocably committed to parliamentary democracy - no matter what I thought of the parties or individuals.
A fresh thought visited. Perhaps there was a way I could combine my passion for audio with my curiosity? Perhaps I could use audio to explore the process of politics - the way in which an individual went about campaigning for election?
No Irish politician has used AudioBoo to communicate their politics. I began to entertain the prospect of helping other citizens understand what's involved in the business of politics.
The detail appealed to me - not the ideology. What do you do if you hope to get elected to Parliament?
The concept of a case study developed. That's the background to how I got into serious discussion with John Gilroy and his election agent. John is a general election candidate from the Irish Labour Party in the Cork North-Central Constituency.
Together we agreed a project - an audio project. John wants to get elected - I want to help make Irish politics more understandable. We have different drivers - we have a basis for working together.
My work is devoted to the art of changing reputations - helping businesses to become better known (quantity) & improve how they are perceived (quality). This involves the application of such skills to the political arena. I imagine I'll learn a lot about politics, political skills & audio through this project.
You can listen to the first six audio pieces here
