A chara, – The Government’s plan to hold a vote on reducing the voting age to 16 is welcome (Front Page, July 10th).
Young people have a strong interest in the issues that affect them, if not in the political structures that are supposed to address those issues, and the evidence shows that if one votes early in one’s life, one is likely to continue to do so (voting early leads to voting often).
Reducing the voting age for Dáil and presidential elections, as well as referendums, would require constitutional change.
In the case of local elections, the voting age could be reduced simply by legislative change, from 18 to 16. This would at least permit the change to be trialled.
Rather than having a referendum immediately on this issue, use the legislation being introduced this autumn on local government reform and let us permit more young people to vote in the local elections next May and then make an informed judgment on the change in a referendum soon after. – Yours, etc,
Cllr MALCOLM BYRNE,
The Chase,
Gorey,
Co Wexford.