DONATIONS TO Irish political candidates can be made through a new website which will be launched throughout the EU before the European Parliament elections in June.
The website, www.micandidate.ie, already holds full profiles and contact details of almost 1,500 Irish local election candidates, who have their basic details carried for free, but who can pay for extra services.
The website will “revolutionise” the way in which candidates relate to their voters, the website’s chief executive and founder, Paddy Cosgrave, said at a Leinster House launch of the venture yesterday.
Candidates who want to expand their profile beyond basic details are charged €249 as a set-up fee, and a further €35 a month for local election candidates and €99 for European candidates.
The fees are small, said Mr Cosgrave, as the website allows them to have a fully interactive webpage, containing audio, video and text messaging, for a fraction of the cost of developing their own website. The website, using .eu and local internet domain names, will be launched in other EU states in the coming weeks, but already “over half” of all candidates contesting the European Parliament elections in the UK had registered with it, Mr Cosgrave said.
Donations could be accepted in accordance with each state’s national funding rules, Mr Cosgrave said. “We will act as the intermediary and notify the candidate that a donation has been registered,” he said. “The candidate can then decide whether to take it or not – whether, indeed, they can take it or not – or they can decide to seek further information.”
In 2007, a less sophisticated predecessor website was viewed four million times. Then taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s webpage on the site was viewed 120,000 times.
Deals have been struck with several broadcasters and newspapers whereby the website’s information about candidates across Europe will be available on their websites.
Francis Jacobs, head of the European Parliament office in Dublin, said the website would be “an invaluable source of information” for voters. All candidates seeking European Parliament seats in Ireland are represented on the site.
