Irish Politics

Todd: So, Ruth, you're from Ireland. Ruth: Yes, that's right. Todd: And could you talk a little bit about the government in Ireland, like do you have a president or a prime minister?

Ruth: In fact, we have both. We have a president, Mary McAleese, and then there's another set, another ruling body, where the head is called the Taoiseach, which is Irish for Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister at the moment is a man called Bertie Ahern. Todd: So you have two Prime Ministers.

Ruth: We have a president and then we have a Prime Minister.

Todd: OK, and the woman is the Ruth: The woman is the President. Mary McAleese is the president.

Todd: OK, well, who actually has the power? Who makes the decisions?

Ruth: Normally I think it's the Taoiseach, the Prime Minister, that makes most of the decisions, and he's over the government. He decides the government.

Todd: OK, and what's that title called, Taoiseach. Ruth: Taoiseach Todd: Taoiseach Ruth: It's Irish. Todd: OK, so that's like Gaelic. Ruth: Yeah. Yeah. There are still some parts of Ireland that's speak Gaelic and, and also because it's one of the official languages. A lot of things will have an Irish name and an English name as well.

Todd: So how do you choose the "Taoiseach". Ruth: The Taoiseach is chosen by the people. So we vote in the Prime Minister, but we also vote in the President as well. We get to choose both.

Todd: OK, well, that's quite interesting. Do the elections happen at the same time?

Ruth: No, usually they happen seperately.

Todd: OK, so what's the point of having the President? Ruth: I'm not sure. I don't really know. I'm not big into politics, so I'm not sure how the whole thing works. Todd: Right, right.

Ruth: But I just know that we have a president as well.

Todd: Well, have you ever had a female "Taoiseach", a female Prime Minister? Ruth: There's never been a female "Taoiseach", only female presidents. We've had two female presidents. Mary McAleese and before her, Mary Robinson.

Todd: OK, now is Ireland do most of the people vote? Do you have a high voter turnout?

Ruth: Quite a lot of people do vote. Mainly, older people, though. Younger people don't vote so much. Todd: That's not good. Ruth: No, not very good at all.

Todd: Yeah, I think in the states it's like 50%, or going down. Ruth: It's probably that, but maybe on the lower side. Todd: OK, well, thanks Ruth.

Ruth: No problem.