A New Age in Voting – Launch of the “Vote at 16” campaign

The purpose of the event is to launch the “Vote at 16 – A New Age in Voting” campaign at a photo opportunity involving young people aged 15-17. At the launch we will be promoting the website www.voteat16.ie . This will provide information and advice for young people on the issue, while also setting out to local and national politicians and political parties why we believe the right to vote should be extended to young people of 16 & 17.

NYCI believes that young people have a right to have a say in the decisions and actions that affect them. At the ages of 16 and 17 you can pay taxes, get married, work full-time, leave school or be detained at a detention centre so why not have the right to vote?

“The key reason why so many young people do not engage in the political process is because they are disillusioned with politicians and political parties who ignore them and their issues. In addition, the Irish voter registration system is very outdated and on turning 18 many people are not registered in time to vote. By reducing the voting age you would engage young people in the political process much earlier and enable registration at a time when they are still in school,” said James Doorley, Assistant Director at NYCI.

Madeleine Carr, 15, member of the “Vote at 16” campaign group stated: “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.”

“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,” claims Maria Kelly, 17, member of the “Vote at 16” campaign group.

ENDS

For further information, please contact Clodagh O’Brien, Communications Officer at the NYCI on 087 781 4903 or 01 425 5955 or email communications@nyci.ie

Notes to Editors:

National Youth Council of Ireland

The National Youth Council of Ireland is a membership-led umbrella organisation that represents and supports the interests of 56 voluntary youth organisations and uses its collective experience to act on issues that impact on young people.