YouTube and Newstalk’s Digital Debate videos live – voters’ questions answered

The Labour Party would remove Ireland’s controversial blasphemy law and re-examine the constitution, according to a video posted on Newstalk and YouTube’s Digital Debate site.

This was one of 50 answers posted by Ireland’s political leaders on the site to questions posed by Irish voters.  Over the past two weeks the site has been asking Irish voters to submit and vote for the best questions to ask the leaders of the main political parties. The questions were divided into topics such as the economy, jobs, health and education, political reform, and “other issues”

Enda Kenny, who is widely expected to become the next Taoiseach, has scored one of the most popular answers on the site with his response to the questions about education funding. Kenny said his party would not increase college fees but would implement a “student contribution” paid for by graduates over 10 years, post graduation. The popularity of the answer follows the controversy surrounding his party’s proposal to remove mandatory Irish lessons for Leaving Cert students.

Bucking the polls Gerry Adams’s answers have been voted the most popular, followed by Eamon Gilmore’s, then Enda Kenny’s and John Gormely’s. Michaél Martin’s answers have recieved the least number of votes to date.

YouTube users will have the oppertunity to vote on each of the politicians’ answers until February 24 – the day before the election on Friday 25.

After a brief delay in uploading the videos the site has become an instant hit with Irish YouTube users, becoming the second most visited YouTube page in the coutry today.