Vote at 16 campaign

Check out a new campaign hoping to change the law so that young people aged 16 and 17 years can vote.

The National Youth Council of Ireland has launched a new Vote at 16 campaign.

NYCI believes that young people should have a greater say in decisions and actions that affect them and their community, and the organisation is campaigning the Government so the voting age is reduced to 16 for local and European elections.

The campaign website says:

“There has been some debate about the lack of interest in politics and the participation in democracy amongst young people in Ireland. We do not agree. From our work we know that the vast majority of young people are interested in local, national and global issues. The key reason why so many do not engage is because they are disillusioned with politicians and political parties who ignore them and their issues. In addition many young people don’t vote as the Irish voter registration system is very outdated and many are not registered in time to vote.” 

A couple of the campaigners took a breather from the campaign launch and had this to say:

“I think the voting age should be lowered to 16 because teenagers under 18 would become more interested in politics if they had more of a say in what was happening in our country. I don't think it's fair that we cannot influence something that affects our everyday lives until we're 18 and therefore issues involving young people aren't properly dealt with. I think that if the voting age was lowered Ireland would be a better and fairer place to live in.”
Madeleine Carr, Age 15

 “I find lowering the voting age to sixteen an extremely important issue for Irish teenagers. As a teenager myself I think it is only fair that young people, are entitled to the right to vote. Sixteen year olds are Irish Citizens just like their eighteen year old peers who are eligible to vote. I believe every young person from the age of sixteen should have the opportunity to vote as this would banish a vast amount of the negativity and apathy which surrounds young people and politics. Why should young people have a firm interest in something they can't be involved in? With the right to vote comes the ability to decide which politicians will represent us,”
Maria Kelly, Age 17

Left to right – Madeleine Carr, Nathan Morrow-Murtagh & Maria Kelly

• Find out more: www.voteat16.ie

• Ways to take action: www.voteat16.ie/take_action

• 7 reasons why age should be reduced.

• Join the campaign on Bebo: www.bebo.com/voteat16

• Discuss voting at 16 in the SpunOut.ie forum.