A chara, – In the negligible amount of debate I have encountered regarding the referendum on the age of presidential candidates, the resounding message I have heard is that 21 is far too young to be president. On that basis, most people I have spoken to intend to vote No. However, the electorate is not being asked whether we should have a 21-year-old for a president, but rather whether anyone between the ages of 21 and 34 should be entitled to run for the presidency.
Should this referendum pass, and should a 21-year-old somehow manage the considerable feat of securing a nomination for the presidency, I see no harm in allowing them to make their case to the electorate. If the majority of Irish people still consider 21 to be too young for president, the candidate in question will lose out, through the democratic process, to an older candidate.
In short, instead of asking “Should a 21-year-old be president?”, we should ask ourselves “Could there ever be an individual between the ages of 21 and 34 who might make a good President?” If the answer to that question is Yes, we should also vote Yes, thus allowing for the possibility of a broader choice of candidates in future presidential elections. Democracy will be the richer for it. – Is mise,
MUIREANN LYNCH,
Sandymount, Dublin 4.
Sir, – We need to remember that the upcoming referendum will allow anybody of 21 years or older to be our president. Not just people aged 21. This proposal is designed to extend the embrace of democracy to the younger generation and get us interested in politics so we will go out and vote in elections.
Anybody who is elected to be our president, no matter what age they may be, will have gone through all the necessary steps needed to get to that stage. If they are between 21 and 35. So be it. They will have been elected by us to serve. – Yours, etc,
CIAN BYRNE,
Dublin 14.
Sir, – For anyone out there swishing their tail about whether to open the door to the possibility of a 21-year-old president, think about this – 14 extra years of a presidential pension. – Yours, etc,
GODFREY SHAW,
Dublin 7.