I was very p
leased to see a Labour woman MEP elected from Ireland in June. Nessa Childers is also a blogger. Nessa’s blog is more of a news feed and she notes that most of the posts are done by others but this does not in my view diminish its value. I occasionally receive emails or letters which suggest that as the media sometimes portray politicians that I do not work that hard. A few years ago it was hard to argue against this. Now whilst explaining my work I always refer constituents to my blog. The blog acts in a fashion as a diary so that when reading it people can see whereabouts in Europe I am and what work I am doing. Probe further and I try to respond to most comments and this is usually doen outside normal working hours. I always appreciate it when constituents write back and say that whilst they may not agree with me on an issue, they
do acknowledge the work I do and the transparent way in which the blog allows me to talk about it.
I sometimes think the very word blog acts as a stumbling block to other MEPs blogging. They imagine perhaps that there is a large amount of work (and cost) in setting it up and maintaining it. WordPress is free software and once the site is set up there is the discipline of writing on most days but it does become a habit. My apologies for the odd typo which creeps in when dashing off a piece between meetings. It does mean that you have a 24/7 commitment to monitoring comments but people understand if approval is delayed a little. With the modern media world all politicians to some extent are available 24/7 with the increase in news channels and the internet.
Perhaps if instead of saying MEPs should set up a blog it was called a news feed then that would be more encouraging. All representatives should be sending out regular news about their activities and views to their electorates. The Irish Labour Party seem to have grasped this concept. They have lead the way in Ireland with using new technology. By setting up a simple platform like the one which Nessa uses they allow interaction with the Irish Labour Party website. This has a list of representatives who blog for Labour.
I was particularly pleased 
to see Alan Kelly elected for the first time as well in June. I often found myself on different sides of the argument from his predecessor Kathy Sinnott. He’s pictured with fellow Labour councillors and he writes almost all of his own blog. Nessa and Alan have joined Proinsas de Rossas. I have campaigned with Proinsas on a number of issues over the years. I am pleased to see he has a blog, although I would like to see its current frequency of posting improved. The most important thing though is that all 3 members of the Irish Labour Party delegation to the European Parliament have their own blogs. As far as I know (do tell me if you know otherwise) they are the only delegation that are 100% bloggers. For that they should be applauded, and flattered by being imitated.
I do not think it is a coincidence that their embracing of blogging resulted in their best ever performance in the European Elections capturing 25% of the seats.
