Sir, – Nobody’s talking much about the other referendum. I was considering voting No. I was thinking about the 21--year-old citizens I know. No disrespect, but none of them is presidential material. That was until a friend pointed out that if one votes Yes, then it will be up to the electorate to decide on the candidates when the time comes. Who knows, an extraordinary young person might come along – an Alexander the Great, a Joan of Arc. I think I’ll vote Yes, just in case. – Yours, etc,
MUIREANN NOONAN,
Dublin 1.
Sir, – Congratulations are surely in order to the Referendum Commission for highlighting, without comment, on their website, the religious oath required of those aspiring to be president of our country. The referendum asks us as voters to extend the current religious discrimination to a new cohort of younger citizens, but the realisation of this has yet to permeate the debate in society at large. The contradiction between the Government’s stated commitment to “equality” in the marriage referendum and its upholding of discrimination in the age referendum is hard to comprehend. One would like to put it down to an oversight, but the issue has been pointed out to it by a UN human rights body and various domestic review bodies over the years.
One can only conclude that the Government sees non-religious citizens as unsuitable for high office, unless they are prepared to lie in order to secure office.
Why would it think that, I wonder? – Yours, etc,
DICK SPICER,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.