The Belmayne Social Inclusion Voting Campaign
This report was written in response to a request by the Belmayne Community Group, a grassroots organisation based in Belmayne, to understand the effectiveness of the Belmayne Social Inclusion Voting Campaign, a grassroots initiative to improve engagement with local democracy among residents living in the Belmayne area. The context of the campaign was dissatisfaction among local activists regarding the relationship between local residents and politicians. It was observed that politicians had more interest in more affluent neighbouring areas, where the voter turnout was higher.
The vicious circle that local activists had identified, where politicians ignore low-turnout areas, and where people in areas ignored by politicians are less engaged in democracy, is supported by a broader evidence base that shows that more socio-economically marginalised groups tend to feel greater mistrust and disaffection about participation. In Ireland, housing tenure is an important predictor of voting behaviour, with those in social and rented housing far less likely to vote than homeowners. Renters are more likely to be younger, live in urban areas, have less disposable income and are more likely to be single. Local activists in Belmayne, which has a hugely disproportionate number of social and private renters, also identified that those living in blocks where there is no access to tenants' front doors from the street cannot easily be canvassed by politicians.
Tiarnán McDonough, Democracy Researcher at TASC, conducted research with local residents to understand how they went about responding to this, combining a range of approaches to raise awareness and improve the relationship between elected representatives and local residents. This work directly addresses TASC’s interest in exploring the relationship between social and economic inequality and democratic participation, with an emphasis on exploring ways that Ireland’s democracy can be strengthened and made more inclusive.
Our research indicates the Belmayne Social Inclusion Voting Campaign showed promising signs of improving engagement between politicians and local residents in the medium term. Some participants felt that the success of the campaign demonstrated the importance of trusted, local leaders when trying to build trust and engagement with democracy in local areas affected by similar issues as Belmayne. Local activists are more likely to know what kinds of intervention will work well in a given local area, and their record of advocacy on behalf of local causes will demonstrate to others their central commitment to improving the local area and advancing local agendas.
