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Column Why I should be allowed to vote at 17

I will inherit the actions of the electorate’s decisions for decades to come, so why shouldn’t I be able to influence government policy too, asks Adam Houlihan.

The Constitutional Convention recently voted in favour of lowering the voting age. At its meeting in Dublin, 52 per cent of delegates voted in favour of lowering the voting age. Of these, 48 per cent were in favour of lowering the age to 16 with 39 per cent selecting 17. Adam Houlihan believes he should be allowed vote at 17. Here, he explains why:

AS A YOUNG person in Ireland today, I believe the voting age should be lowered to 17 so I can have a say in how my country is run. As a student taking the Leaving Certificate exam next year, the influence that government policy has on my current life and on my future life is huge – but I have no say into how policy works.

Some people argue that at 17, my friends and I are incapable of making a mature, independent decision – but I see people my age making mature decisions and having responsible interactions with the State on many levels every single day.

Trusted to…

If I have been entrusted with many of the rights and responsibilities that people over 18 enjoy, surely it stands to reason that I deserve the right to vote? Let’s look at how the State treats me now: next year I will sit my Leaving Certificate, a State exam, and hopefully go on to university, which I am allowed to attend while aged 17. I work on the weekends, making a financial contribution to the State through taxation, which I am legally entitled to do since I was 16. The State recognises that I am mature enough to drive a car, entrusting me with my safety and that of others and the age of sexual consent is 17. I can also make independent medical decisions at this age. I was at the train station recently and when I asked for a child’s ticket, I was told I would have to buy an adult’s ticket as I am over 16.

However, some people will say that young people have no interest in current affairs or politics and, hence, are not informed enough to vote. This is a moot point, applying a burden of proof not extended to all voters – after all, do adults have to prove they are informed? Of course not. Nor should they have to, because democracy is not about being a member of a so-called “informed” group, but about being a member of society, a citizen.

It is each citizen’s civic duty to investigate where they stand and to assess which candidate best represents their views, at their discretion. It is universally true –  for young people and adults alike –  if an individual has the cognitive ability to decide for themselves about how to vote, then they also have the ability to choose how informed they want to be.

Youth engagement

We live in a time when voter apathy is rife, broadly speaking, across every demographic in this country – with the sole exception of older people in Ireland. In North African and Middle Eastern countries where the Arab Spring is in progress, an astonishing estimated 90,000 people have died for the right to self-governance. In the US Presidential Election last November, people lined up for six hours in Florida and in Idaho, ballots had to be photocopied just people could have their say in how their country is run.

It is embarrassing then, and even demoralising, to assess the recent Children’s Rights Referendum where voter turnout was as low as 33.53 per cent, the third lowest turnout in Irish referendum history. This shows that we seriously need to act, to engage people young and old with the system of government.

Looking to the sole demographic with high voter turnout, older people; how do we replicate that behaviour in younger people? Evidence has shown that a person is much more likely to vote for life, if they start at a young age, so that is one consideration. If Irish young people are introduced to voting sooner, while they are still in the structured school environment taking certain behaviour as norms on board for later life, we could see an increase of regular voters in the long run. Hence, lowering the voting age to 17 could be an effective step towards re-engaging people with the political system.

It is the youth of society, at any given time, who will inherit the actions of the electorate’s decisions for decades to come. We will have to drink the water, pay for the pension funds and live with the infrastructure handed down to us from governments elected by the franchised today. It is essential, therefore, that we give the opportunity to have the voices heard of all capable citizens. Maybe, if politics was forced to address the concerns of younger people by extending the franchise, we might also find that the policies being considered would be different in themselves.

But, then, I’m not 18… so does my opinion really matter?

Adam Houlihan is a member of West Waterford Young Fine Gael and will be taking his Leaving Certificate exams next year.

Read: Convention votes to lower voting age, rejects reduction of presidential term>

Read: Sinn Féin and Greens call for lowering of voting age>

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    Mute Martin Sinnott
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    Apr 7th 2013, 8:50 AM

    Send them the report in the Irish language !

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    Mute Ian Crowley
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    Apr 7th 2013, 9:40 AM

    Irish is considered an official language in the EU.

    AFAIK, all EU documents eventually get published (printed???) in every language for dissemination to the other member states.

    Not taking the piss but I believe there are a series of robots that deliver documents through out the EU building in Brussels that follow pre-programmed paths. The look like a cross between a shopping trolly and a 1950′s Sci-Fi “Future-Dog”.

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    Mute Keith O'Brien
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    Apr 7th 2013, 11:54 AM

    Wrong Council. Official COE languages are English and French.

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    Mute Damocles
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    Apr 7th 2013, 8:54 AM

    Of course they don’t care about the badgers, badgers aren’t bondholders. ;)

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    Mute skerriesred
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    Apr 7th 2013, 8:58 AM

    I thought that nobody knows who the bond holders are.
    Why couldn’t it be the badgers?

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    Mute Little Jim
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    Apr 7th 2013, 9:02 AM

    I thought that was the wombles of Wimbledon common.

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    Mute Dilcos
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    Apr 7th 2013, 9:30 AM

    Do Bondholders carry TB as well?

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    Mute Damocles
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    Apr 7th 2013, 12:27 PM

    “Why couldn’t it be the badgers?”

    Because then the government would be falling over backwards to help them.

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    Mute JibberIrish
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    Apr 7th 2013, 10:53 AM

    I think the Irish motorways are culling enough badgers.

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    Mute Dermot Fennelly
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    Apr 7th 2013, 8:39 AM

    That’s the least of our worries , I’m sure our friends in Europe have filed very detailed analysis

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    Mute Pádraig O'hEidhin
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    Apr 7th 2013, 8:46 AM

    Next they’ll want detailed analysis on the amount of tiddly-winks played on an annual basis.

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    Mute Figo murphy
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    Apr 7th 2013, 10:03 AM

    It’s not the least of the Badges problems

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    Mute Vinnie Bonar
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    Apr 8th 2013, 12:14 AM

    It’s an island… Why do they care?

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    Mute Maureen Ellen McGill
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    Apr 7th 2013, 9:55 PM

    article is about badger culling though one wouldn’t think so from the comments. Science has proved that killing badgers does not stop Bovine TB from spreading so let’s just give these guys a break and clean up best practice and hygienic farming.

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    Mute cormac
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    Apr 7th 2013, 11:57 AM

    European law my ass. Free trade across the eu? I just paid €3000 in vrt to bring a car in from the UK. We can choose which laws to enforce or not. I am not worried about a badger law. I’ve never seen as many of them in my life.

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    Mute Keith O'Brien
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    Apr 7th 2013, 12:12 PM

    It’s highly worrying that a secondary school teacher can’t distinguish between the EU and COE …. especially when that person claims to be interested in politics.

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    Mute Íde Mhic Gabhann
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    Oct 19th 2013, 9:25 AM

    Especially when the article refers to Bern

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    Mute Tom Kiely
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    Apr 7th 2013, 10:06 AM

    Next ill be telling Europe how many squares if toilet paper I use….but us as nation of sheep..I say no more

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    Mute Clifford Brennan
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    Apr 7th 2013, 11:19 AM

    Im sure we recently learned that EU wide agreements dont necessarily mean anything.

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    Mute John Burke
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    Apr 7th 2013, 1:06 PM

    I met a badger last night in the local, not bad looking either

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    Mute OU812
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    Apr 7th 2013, 9:25 AM
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    Mute Dermot Fennelly
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    Apr 7th 2013, 9:30 AM

    Let’s send them that

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    Mute Ian Crowley
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    Apr 7th 2013, 9:42 AM

    Thats fantastic. Nothing will ever be the same again….EVER!

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    Mute RP McMurphy
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    Apr 7th 2013, 12:00 PM

    ‘Russian dancing men’ also catchy!

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    Mute John Anthony Duignan
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    May 22nd 2013, 8:10 PM

    There is huge debate about this, the farming lobby think that these creatures spread TB to cows, many of us think that this a simplistic take on things. The debate is really that of industrial scale farming that has encroached up and indeed nearly wiped out the majority of Irish wildlife in the name maximizing profit per square meter of land, the hell with the cost to the natural environment and the diversity of wildlife that lives in tune with it. We on the environmental side of the debate feel that this kind wonton destruction has no justification whatsoever. Unfortunately the farm lobby is powerful in both finance and in terms of governmental representation and it is a bit of a battle.

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