‘Before the referendum I wouldn’t have been political at all. I wouldn’t have really paid attention. Maybe I might have talked about it a little bit, but never to the extent where I would have quit my job and got knee deep in it,” says Anthony Doyle, who co-led the Yes Equality Kilkenny group during the run up the marriage equality referendum.
The 21-year-old was one of hundreds of young people nationally who became closely involved with the Yes campaign, canvassing on doorsteps, ringing their grannies, posting emotional pleas on social media and covering counties in Yes badges.
Their efforts paid off. The Yes vote carried (62 per cent to the No side’s 38 per cent), and Ireland became the first country in the world to introduce same-sex marriage by popular vote.
Now, in the run-up to the general election, what politicians did or did not do is having a bearing on who some of those Yes campaigners will give their first preference to.
For Doyle, his number one is going to Sinn Féin’s Kathleen Funchion. It’s the person, rather than the party, that is steering his choice, and what she did during the referendum is his biggest motivator.
“Kathleen came out and did her thing for us during the referendum. She was the only one in Kilkenny that really stood up and said, ‘anything you need, get in touch’. Most of my Facebook posts are saying ‘vote Kathleen’: not Sinn Féin, but for Kathleen as a person.”
Families
It’s not just the young people who are basing their vote on who supported the Yes side during the referendum, it’s their families too.
When Doyle’s home was recently canvassed by Fianna Fáil’s John McGuinness, a No voter, his father made it clear that a vote had been lost. “My dad said, ‘that’s my son standing there. You tried making a decision on his future without putting any thought into it. Kathleen helped him out a great amount during the referendum so we’re going with her, and we’re not giving a second preference’.”
Joe Ronan (26), from Carlow, shares Doyle’s view. Ronan, who was a first-time voter in May, took time off work to volunteer on the Yes Equality bus, which travelled to all of the 26 counties in the run-up to May 22nd. He still hasn’t made up his mind about who he will vote for, but he will be asking anyone who canvasses him about their role during the referendum.
“Everyone should be asking that of the candidate. It’s not just what the party did. If you have someone representing you, you want them to stand up for the ideologies you stand for. You need to know what values they hold. The referendum was an important first step for people to express their opinions. Young people realised they have a voice, a sense of morality and what is right and wrong. They realised their vote can make a difference. It’s empowered a lot of the younger generation.”
More than 60,000 people, many of them under 35, registered to vote in the run-up to the referendum.
“We know that once you vote once, you’re more likely to vote a second time and that’s just true globally,” says Dr Jane Suiter, a political scientist and director of the Institute for Future Media and Journalism at Dublin City University.
The 2014 Scottish independence referendum, followed by the UK’s general election, is a real testament to this. A record 84.5 per cent of the electorate turned out to vote in the Scottish independence referendum, with a huge proportion being first- time and young voters.
“That momentum did continue on into the general election [in May 2015]. The turnout was higher than usual and you can see that by comparing it with the English and Welsh turnout . . . The referendum certainly got people interested in politics,” says Mark Sheppard, senior lecturer in politics at Strathclyde University.
Following the Scottish referendum, the membership of the SNP, which had a large youth base support, rose from 20,000 to 100,000 within a few months.
In the run-up to our own general election, no one party seems to have capitalised on the currency of the youth vote.
“They don’t put anywhere near as much emphasis on younger people because they figure they are less likely to turn out,” says Suiter. “They’re much more concerned with the older voters. Some politicians might regret not paying as much attention to the youth vote as maybe they should.”
Now that the dust has settled on marriage equality, not everyone is basing their vote on what the politician did during the referendum.
Vickey (34) led canvassing groups in Dún Laoghaire and Dublin Central. She became deeply politicised during that time, but her focus is now on candidates championing other equality issues.
Independent Maureen O’Sullivan will be getting her number one vote in Dublin Central, followed by Diana O’Dwyer from the Anti-Austerity Alliance. “I didn’t really hear of them during the referendum, it’s not a thing for me now. I’m more inclined towards Repeal the Eighth people and education equality.”
Repealing the eighth amendment is a key issue, too, for Yes Wicklow campaigner Ursula Quill (25). “That would be the minimum in my books,” says Quill. Like Vickey she isn’t as concerned about what politicians did during the referendum.
“I certainly want them to have supported it, but it wouldn’t be the deciding factor, it would be a plus. A lot of the time we had people from different parties out canvassing together, people put political differences aside. But when it comes to the election, you have your political jersey back on.”
A recent Red C poll showed voters aged 18-34 have first vote preference for Fine Gael at 28 per cent, Sinn Féin at 22 per cent with Fianna Fáil and Independents at 14 per cent.
Next week
Anything could happen in the polls over the next week. But one thing for sure is that the referendum got young people more interested in politics, registered to vote and keen to be well-informed, says Ian Molloy.
The 27-year-old chairman of Donegal’s South-West Ógra Fianna Fáil is a seasoned campaigner, currently out canvassing for Pat “The Cope” Gallagher and Charlie McConalogue.
He was surprised by the level of engagement that the referendum brought about. In 2014 he had a hard time convincing his friends to support his local election campaign. In 2015, they were all asking him how to get on the register. In 2016, he’s seeing young people more engaged on the doorsteps than they ever have been before.
“I remember in 2011 if you met a young person at the door you were nearly asking if you could speak to their parents,” says Molloy. “You got the feeling they didn’t want to be engaged. Even last weekend people were much more engaged, especially people who are 25 or 26 starting out with young families. They were really interested to know what the plan is and how they would benefit. That’s a big political change in Donegal.
“The referendum has definitely played a big role in that. It moved people into gear in terms of them getting on the register and now they know where to go to vote and the layout, etc. I think we’ll have a really good youth turnout this time around.”
