Sir, – The media has a responsibility not to play into a Government strategy that has seen the Cabinet lie low in the hope that referendum proposals simply get nodded through next month. Why not interrogate Cabinet ministers who are failing to debate these issues with opponents? A packed public debate at Dublin City University last week demonstrated just how interesting and nuanced can be a full and balanced discussion of the proposals.
The media is somewhat exercised about the marriage vote ("just six weeks" away as The Irish Times reminded readers on Saturday), but hardly at all about "the other referendum".
As one who has from the outset publicly opposed the referendum on the age of the president as a cynical crowd-pleasing gimmick that avoids more meaningful political reform, and is therefore significant, I hope that the media will very soon do more to debate the proposal in the context of both the actual needs of people aged 21 to 35 and the failure to introduce far-ranging reforms.
A recent Irish Times opinion poll shows that most voters oppose changing the age at which one can become president of Ireland. Now even a former member of the Government, Pat Rabbitte, has called its proposal "silly".
Having brought forward “the other referendum” on the age of the president as a supposedly meaningful measure in the context of earlier promises of reform, political parties that lamely support it ought not to be let off the hook by media.
Let’s talk about why politicians deemed this proposal important, and why most voters think that it is not. The reasons are contextual as much as they have to do with the actual wording. They illustrate the current gap between people and their politicians in Ireland. – Yours, etc,
COLUM KENNY,
Professor
of Communications,
Dublin City University.