Sir, – There has been some discussion about the Irish diaspora not having the opportunity to vote in the European elections but there is another important group living in Ireland who will find it very difficult to vote. There are 136,000 aged 18 and 19 sitting the Leaving Certificate this year.
This is the generation who missed their Junior Certificate during the pandemic and this is their first experience of a State examination.
On Friday, many of these students will be sitting two examinations – geography (a very popular subject) and mathematics (compulsory).
After more than six hours of writing and concentrating these students will be in no frame of mind to head to a polling station to vote. It is somewhat baffling that Ireland cannot hold its elections on Saturday, June 8th, or Sunday, June 9th, similar to 25 out of the 27 EU member states.
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We speak about the importance of the youth voice but we are effectively depriving these young people of their voice in Europe and in their local areas for another four years. – Yours, etc,
MARY CANNON,
Department of Psychiatry,
RCSI University of Medicine
and Health Sciences,
Dublin 2.