Antipathy among the young 'needs to be cured fast'

We like to think the marriage equality referendum and the accompanying spike in the number of under 25’s who registered to vote will mark a turning point in the way our generation engage with politics.

The depressing fact is, the statistics after the next election will likely see the numbers fall right back down.

The thousands who turned out in last May disprove that theory that our generation simply do not care. The result of the referendum was largely hinged on the young vote with thousands having registered in the run up to the vote.

Before the marriage equality referendum 30 per cent of those under 25 were not registered to vote. According to the Central Statistics Office 45 per cent of young people eligible to vote do not vote in comparison to just 13 per cent of over 55’s who do not vote.

The one rather depressing explanation is that young people simply do not believe there is anything worth voting for.

At best they see politicians as professional spoof artists who waffle their way through television interviews and at worst they think their elected representatives hold them in contempt as members of a third estate.

At every election promises are swiftly made and broken just as quickly afterward.

We react by typing out a vicious Facebook status or a disparaging tweet but in general we do not act.

The recent budget which was lauded as a giveaway had surprisingly little to give to those under 25. The cuts to job seekers allowance were not reversed and student contribution still stands at over €3000.

With the exception of statements from the usual suspects such as the USI and the odd bit of internet trolling, there has been scant reaction from the under 25’s.

But if you are to compare us to our grandparents you will find that in 2008 when the Fianna Fáil led government decided to allocate medical cards by means testing as part of an austerity budget, 15,000 senior citizens descended on the Dáil the following week demanding the government roll back on the changes.

True to form, they did. Because they knew that they would receive a thrumming at the ballot boxes. The fact of that matter is because 87 per cent of senior citizens vote our political parties don’t just court the grey vote but depend on it.

The same government and the present administration succesively wielded their axe on our young people cutting job seekers allowance and succesively raising tuition fees.

But yet they remain unchallenged because not enough people under 25 years of age bother to go out and vote.

As a generation we grew up watching the likes of Charlie Haughey, Bertie Ahern and Michael Lowry hauled before tribunal after tribunal.

We associate back-hand payments, dirty money and off shore bank accounts with an untouchable political establishment.

But politicians are not untouchable and as clichéd as it sounds, our vote does matter.

The 2011 general election illustrates this point perfectly, as Fianna Fáil the natural party of government for most of the states history were reduced to 21 seats.

Politicians don’t serve the needs of young people simply because too few of us vote to factor with them.

There is an antipathy there amongst our generation, which needs to be cured fast.

Most under 25’s who came out to vote for marriage equality did so because they fervently believed in the cause for change.

It is time to carry the torch forward and the only way to do so is by voting. Even if you think politics is a futile pursuit that bores you senseless, please vote.