Cork people share whether they will be voting in today's general election 

Maureen Duggan, Mahon-Blackrock: 

I will be voting in the general election.

I have been following along and looking into it, to see what everyone has to offer.

I’ll have to wait and see what they all say as their last word before I can make a decision [on what candidates to vote for].

Tom Durcan, Crosshaven: 

I will most definitely be voting, I have been studying it as it goes along and watching what policies different parties have. 

I’m happy enough with the way things are going at the moment. 

Housing and a bit of help for small businesses would go a long way, the Vat rate being cut would be great, it’s very hard to make money in a small business right now — it’s very expensive.

Triona Walsh, Lismore: 

I will be voting, but I’ve not been following along. 

I would like to see the cost of living, homelessness, and care of the elderly dealt with, and Palestine. 

I should probably educate myself more, I absolutely think people should vote, but I don’t think there’s a massive interest [in the election]. Personally I feel like they [politicians] are distant, it’s a bit ‘us and them’ sometimes.

Stephen Sloane, Ballycotton: 

I will be voting, but I don’t think people are engaged. 

They [politicians] need to engage with smaller communities, it isn’t all about Dublin. 

In Cork in general you can see shops are closing down, and the cost of living is gone too high. 

They need to bring down the Vat on everything from top to bottom and make it more feasible for people to live day to day.

Jakub Packo, Cork city: 

I will not be voting because, from my knowledge of the different parties, the differences they offer are very minimal. 

There’s not much difference whether one or the other is in power, and from my experience living here, there hasn’t been any changes made. 

I think infrastructure, transportation, and housing need to be addressed, they’d be the biggest ones.

Sinéad Casey, St Luke’s: 

I will be voting — I would say that people are engaged with the election, there are a lot of issues around housing, health, and education that are having a ripple effect on everybody. 

There isn’t an area that I would say doesn’t need attention, but if I were to prioritise, I would say education and childcare, as from my own experience as an SNA I can see that it’s needed.