Ian E Coleman for Taoiseach

Day 2,110, 20:32 • Published in Ireland Ireland • by Ian E CoIeman
August 30, 2013

Hello eIreland,

I will be a candidate in eIreland's September 2013 Country President elections.

I've made the decision to run this month after a lot of encouragement from fellow ÉA members, and knowing that this coming month will be a rare chance for me to take on this responsibility in balance with my real life commitments.

The role of Country President is one that I take seriously. If elected I will be responsible for the interests of the eIrish community... a community that I've long loved. For the citizens of eIreland, I will be in their service - their representative to the eWorld, their advocate at the tables of international affairs. This is a job not for those who seek glory, but for those who seek to answer the call of duty to their people.

A Sweet Legacy
My plan for September, in its fundamentals, is to continue the progress initiated by Sweet Drinker, our current and ceding Taoiseach. Especially when it comes to our non-aggression with the eUK you can expect me to maintain the same military strategy and long term outlook. Granted my election and save extreme unseen conditions, we will not declare war on the eUK for the return of our original regions during September 2013. I feel its important to make that clear about my platform as the issue is deep seated for many of our citizens - a patriotism that I understand but refrain from due to a more pragmatic outlook on our relationship with the eUK.



I view freedom as a matter of "congressional sovereignty". That is, if we can elect a congress, then we are free. Of course we want to expand our influence and borders if possible, but the matter of keeping a congress each month will always take priority under my government.

This will not be my only article, and you can expect a full and detailed cabinet bill before elections, but I will say now that the core of my cabinet will be much the same as Sweet's. I plan to do some innovative things in Education, Immigration, and Community, but the core disciplines of Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Finance will not see any boat rocking.



When I interviewed Sweet Drinker in a Know Your Candidates article last month, he told me that he was running for a third time so that he might hand over a stable nation rather than a national repair list. [1]

I definitely recognize that whoever takes over this month will be fortunate, thanks to Sweet, in not having any big loose ends left over from their predecessor. The stability provided by Sweet's term has given growth to all of our main ministries, meaning the return of Sunday Strikes, security of congressional sovereignty, and the promise of more financial flexibility for national programs. Kudos to Sweet on a hard fought three months.

Keeping In Touch
I want to make this a key objective in my administration. The reputation of a leader's performance stands or falls on his/her ability to communicate activity, regardless of good work that may be going on behind the seen.



Tentatively I have plans to better connect with feedback from the community through surveys and census - though honestly this will take a backseat to pressing concerns. If we can't do that then I think I'm known to keep my eyes open for feedback and comments, and I'm always willing to start a dialog on issues.

I pledge to make a serious effort at reminding the public I'm still alive, and at shedding some light on those events behind the curtains of government. Above all else, I think it's obvious that an informed population is better equipped to react to current issues... and in the interests of putting the whole nation on its A-game, I'm going to bring the skills of article writing and information dispensing from my role as MoE to the Cp's office.

Some Love For Congress
With the recent changes in Work Tax, I'm eager to start recalibrating our mutual protection pacts (alliances) and/or re-budget in terms of making friends internationally.



I will start friending all of our Dáil members before elections are through, because in the case that I do win, I would like to have our new congressional thread on the road by my first day in office. With our new budget we will be able to expand and renew some exiting alliances and have a look at where we want to dispense some blood sweat and bullets for our friends abroad. We'll also want to take into consideration our future need for allies on home soil, so this will be a very fun and in-depth process.

Stay tuned for further campaign articles. I've got this all planned but I want to keep the information digestible.

Cheers!
Ian E Coleman
Candidate for Taoiseach of eIreland September '13