Age of presidential candidates

Sir, – If one were to judge by media coverage of this week’s two referendums then most citizens care more about the small proportion of gay couples who wish to marry than they do about a question on young people and political reform.

But the latest Irish Times opinion poll (May 16th) shows that even more citizens stand ready to reject the proposal on the presidency as inadequate than to accept a redefinition of marriage as desirable.

The political parties that support the second referendum have failed to campaign for it. Most media in turn have failed to interrogate this unprecedented phenomenon and have not explored why citizens of all ages are set to reject it.

Some Government supporters are already spinning the failure of the second referendum by hinting that the presidential question was really asked to deflect public anger at politicians away from the marriage equality question.

READ MORE

If that Machiavellian scenario were true (and I do not believe it), it would add insult to the injury of an inadequate second proposal by using young people as political pawns and the Constitution as a convenience.

The other spin is that political parties were simply obliging the Convention on the Constitution. However, even that body proposed more meaningful measures relating to young people, including votes for emigrants and enshrining socio-economic rights in the Constitution.

Politicians thought that the presidential proposal was an easy way to court popularity with young voters. Its failure will reveal the Government as out of touch, and the Opposition as dupes.

Young people feel ripped off or used in many areas of life, from jobs and working conditions through housing and healthcare to banking and insurance.

A Dáil that has just seven out of 166 deputies aged under 35, and which is partly responsible for the precarious socio-economic circumstances in which young people find themselves, abused the vulnerability of youth by proposing a cynical constitutional amendment of no practical value.

No thanks to most of the media, which might have made more of the second referendum had they not been obsessed with the first, citizens see through the proposal on the president. The result this week will be their third consecutive rejection of proposed political reforms as wholly inadequate. Is anyone listening? – Yours, etc,

Prof COLUM KENNY,

Dublin City University,

Dublin 9.

A chara, – While it is laudable to reduce the age that an Irish man or woman can stand before the electorate to be this country’s first citizen, I will be voting No.

The reduced age does not go far enough. If the referendum passes, we will still have a section of our society who can vote for a president but cannot stand to be president. – Is mise,

GARETH T CLIFFORD,

Stillorgan,

Co Dublin.

Sir, – How are younger people (and let’s face it, only in politics is 34 seen as all that young) to be expected to take an increased role in the political life of the country when they can’t stand for president?

Reducing the age of eligibility to 21 is reasonable and entirely fair. – Yours, etc,

MARY O’HALLORAN,

Galway.