A chara, – Sandra Adams (Letters, May 3rd) is correct that we should not make a decision to reduce the voting age to 16 based on the views of just a handful of interviewees for a report or a newspaper article.
However, the proposal to make this change to the franchise was strongly supported by the Constitutional Convention in 2013, where the matter was considered in detail.
We can also learn from the experiences of other countries where the voting age at varying elections has been reduced to 16, including Austria, Argentina, Brazil, Estonia, Malta, Scotland and Wales.
I currently have a Bill before the Oireachtas that would allow for those aged 16 and 17 to vote in the 2024 local and European elections, and Minister of State for Electoral Reform Malcolm Noonan has indicated that he supports the principle.
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But young people’s participation in decision making is not just about reducing the voting age. Minister for Education Norma Foley’s recent decision to appoint a representative of the Irish Second Level Students’ Union to the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and the planned focus on media literacy of the new Media Commission are positive moves.
The excellent but optional politics and society course at second level needs to become compulsory for all students.
Young people have led on issues such as maintaining a focus on climate change, the biggest existential crisis facing us all.
Those concerns should inform all legislators’ thinking.
A broader public debate on young people’s rights and responsibilities as citizens, including the right to vote, is to be welcomed. – Is mise,
Senator
MALCOLM BYRNE,
Fianna Fáil ,
Seanad Éireann,
Dublin 2.