There’s an article in today’s Irish Times about politicians and the internet .- With 3 months to go to election day there are a few comments from MEP’s and European Parliament candidates who talk about their websites, intentions to blog and answering emails but caution there’s nothing like personal contact.  

I’ve got some more twittering politicians subscribed to this week and I’ll do a post on them myself shortly -sadly there was no mention of the twitterers (Eoin Ryan MEP amongst them) in the article.

Also missing is the podcasting senator. What you mean you didn’t know we had one?  Senator Joe O’Toole will be imparting his wisdom today on The Use of Technology in Elections at a seminar for independent politicians in Athlone organised by MEP Marian Harkin. 

Simon Harris (Greystones Town Council Candidate) makes an appearance talking up the 517 friends he has on Bebo. I’m still trying to figure out if he’s calling his potential voters/friends on Bebo and facebook apathetic… No mention of the Youtube though?

SIMON HARRIS, a Fine Gael local election candidate in Wicklow, tries to capture the traditionally “apathetic younger voters� in the area by the heavy use of Bebo and Facebook. These are the voters who may be bypassed at the doors or would not go to a local constituency office to ask questions, he says.

“It’s where people my age get their information, and every time I issue a press release I can communicate freely and directly with my target audience with one click,� says Harris, who has 517 supporters on his Bebo page.

“The use of Bebo and Facebook is not dumbing down of politics, just making it user friendly,� he argues.

The article concludes with a mini-review of all the political parties and their efforts and plans for the future.

Meanwhile Harry McGee is planning a major piece of work on the area of politics and d’internet. So if you’ve any recomendations you can let him know here.