JASON O'MAHONY,
Sir, - Kathy Sheridan raised some interesting issues in her piece on voter apathy - in particular, the alleged irrelevance of modern politics to the 18-24 age group ("Apathy rules OK", Weekend, March 23rd). The point is that politics is relevant to that group, but some are too distracted or lazy to bother about it.
The price of DVDs, sexual freedom, drugs laws, the minimum wage - all these are relevant to young people, yet many choose to let others make those decisions for them. It isn't rocket science to determine where you stand on these issues and to identify which candidates come closest to your opinion. Choosing not to read a newspaper, or not to write to your TD, are choices.
Recent comments in the UK, mirrored here, suggest that politics should be made less boring. This is daft. Politics isn't about entertainment, it's about government. How do you make water supplies, or sewerage, or local government reform, or the taxes to pay for them, compete with David Beckham or Ali G? You can't, but if we don't deal with these issues seriously we'll all be in trouble.
The "they're-all-the-same" attitude stems from laziness. Does anyone seriously believe that there is no difference between Martin McGuinness and Michael McDowell? More to the point, do we really want people who can't tell the difference to be voting at all? In the US, only 25 per cent of voters vote regularly in mid-term elections, and as a result of technology permitting the specific targeting of voters, those 25 pet cent are courted assiduously by political parties, and party policies are tailored to attract that group of regular voters as opposed to the 75 per cent who don't vote regularly.
Personally, a falling turnout doesn't bother me, as it increases the relative value of my own vote. What amazes me are the number of people who regard themselves as being clever and even profound by not voting.
"They're all the same! I never vote!" they declare proudly. Imagine they said what they are really doing:"I always let other people make choices for me!"
See you at the polling station. - Yours, etc.,
JASON O'MAHONY,
St James's Wood,
Dublin 8.
A chara, - Kathy Sheridan captures much of the reality of how most twenty- and even thirty-somethings view their disengagement from the political system.
As a relatively young public representative (27), I know I will have difficulty convincing many people around my age to vote in May. Increasingly, I find myself almost as an outsider looking in on politics rather than as an advocate of the system of which I am supposed to be a part.
The language used by our political leaders shows how out of touch they have become - from John O'Donoghue referring to a new-fangled drink called "vodka and bull" on Questions and Answers to the use of the appalling and patronising "coolchoices" campaign by the Department of Health aimed at under-age drinkers.
I have now sat on three occasions in audiences where senior political figures from three different parties, when addressing the issue of first-time home buyers, referred to people's "sons and daughters" looking to buy - without noticing that among those in the audience were young first-time buyers who had views of their own.
It was an interesting case study recently when, after a 29-year-old Donegal councillor was caught with cannabis in his possession, one of his more senior party colleagues called for his expulsion from the party. When the older councillor was asked if the same thing should happen to those convicted of drunk driving, he said no - that was a different category of offence. For most people in my age group, cannabis possession is far less serious and certainly less life-threatening than drink-driving.
I am tired of listening to young people being described as "our nation's future". Surely we are as much a part of its present? Young people have realised that they are far more powerful as consumers, rather than as citizens. Why should they take an interest in the political system if the political system takes no interest in them? - Is mise,
MALCOLM BYRNE,
Chairperson,
Gorey Town Council,
Ramsfort Avenue,
Gorey,
Co Wexford.