no way that kid in the picture is 16!!

Age isn’t the problem- it’s intelligence and wisdom. While there are plenty of 16 year olds capable of making an informed decision, there are far more who aren’t.

On saying that, there are plenty of adults out there who I wouldn’t trust to vote in X factor

@Rommel Burke: If the pupils could vote, there would probably be a lot less teachers in the Dáil! Now THERE’S a reason to vote “Yes”! And I’m a teacher myself!

Why not allow them to vote? Couldn’t make any worse decisions than us ‘adults’!! Look at the shower we voted in.

No we could end up with Jedward running the country …. Actually come to think of it would we know the difference

if people over the age of 18 can’t see through the lies and bullshit surrounding voting for any issue well I don’t really have to explain my views on this poll!!

Yes, research shows that if kids are politically engaged at 16 and at school with their peers, they will continue to be engaged into adulthood, something we should encourage given the low voter turnout in Ireland.

Yes, they should be allowed vote. I was far more politically minded when I was 16 then I am now. I am far more disillusioned with the whole thing now and while I always vote, I am inclined to think what’s the point, it’s same shit different party.
Think of how most adults vote – most of the time it’s bec “we always voted FF/FG” or whoever, not much to do with what the policies of that particular party are.
Teenagers tend to protest, Politicians don’t care about this at present because they don’t have a vote. Adults moan about politics but most don’t bother protesting because they’re too jaded with life. (I’m assuming this is the case, having been at protests myself during 2010 and feck all people bothering to show up)
I think if 16yr olds had a vote, most would use it and would make an informed choice about it. The 16 yr olds who don’t have a political interest wouldn’t bother voting, just the same as adults who couldn’t be bothered. It’s time we gave young people a bit of responsibility and credit – the voting age has been 18 for years and we’re still up shit creek regardless!!

how about we impose a MAXIMUM voting age and get rid of fianna fine for good.

Who cares? Chances are they’ll be as ill-informed and apathetic as the current register (referring to turnouts only). Secondary schools should be formally educating each generation (at entry) on the role of the citizen in society. I can think of one subject that could be replaced immediately with a new Civics programme added to the curriculum……. the youth might even start educating their parents???????

For the first time I had to vote “I don’t know”. Its a tough one, at 16 I don’t think you can have a very informed knowledge base to make an informed decision, giving that most adults find it hard to get the necessary information themselves on how to vote without biased politicians or media interpretations of subjects.
Then on the other hand, getting young people interested in their governance and politics can only be a good thing for ours and theirs future, and as Begrudgy mentioned, we may see political parties or lobbies shoving their ideologies on kids through their teachers or in classes.

They should be allowed to vote, some clown said earlier, it should be raised to 21 again, but look at the sh!te governments that we got with that age. Let them vote, its their future, the greedy auld ones have fuc#ed up the country. The young would do a lot better.

Wouldn’t make a difference. With elections on a Thursday, they’d still be out in low numbers ala students.

If your old enough to pay taxes then your entitled to have a say in how it’s used. So yes they should be allowed to vote. Unless the government want to make all employees tax exempt until they are 18 of course!

People here are saying that it should,nt be changed because we are vulnerable, not mature and uninformed but vulnerability, being immature and uninformed does NOT go on just your age, that is prejudice it goes on what kind of person you are.

Yeah absolutely. It could be done as part of CSPE. Would set them up as voters for life.

Voting is hardly contingent on whether one pays tax…
It’s deemed the point where one can adequately make an informed choice. Personally think the proportion of 16 yr olds who would fit the bill would be exceptionally low. So I voted “No”.

Yes, the problems we have with our system of governance are totally fixed by dropping the voting age by 18.

It’s nothing to do with the way we have absolutely no controls of any kind on our politicians in between general elections. I mean, what harm could they do during that short stretch of time, it’s not like you can make one decision and destroy an entire national economy after all.

Oh.

If 17 year olds are allowed to handle ammunition and weapons and serve in the armed forces then they should be allowed vote for the policy makers too. however 16 is a bit too young in my opinion.

Why not..they couldnt possible do any worse than we have done!!

Considering how badly over 18s have voted in the last couple of elections they could hardly do worse harm to the country. If anything some of the most informed people I know are young and they are well able to back up their reasons unlike a many older people who slavishly vote for the same party everytime.

Great idea, people need to be encouraged to vote as they go through school. Giving them this opportunity early on will encourage them to learn more about the issues. Lowering the voting age has been a great success in all other countries where it’s happened.

Please don’t be fearful about young people voting for crazy parties. Most people who say they will, don’t actually turn up in the day!!!

This will be used by the small few who know what the issues are about.

It’s mad that I could join a party at 16, canvass for a candidate, debate the issues on the doorstep and then not be able to vote myself!!!

Parties that allow members to join under 18 but don’t want them to have a vote are hypicritical.

Looking at the poll results I doubt if any under eighteens voted on this one, or maybe they are smarter than us adults and decided there is no point in voting for false promises and people who lied and went back on their word. Stupid people went mad during the celtic tiger so Enda and his cronies were voted in by stupid people=logic. I on the otherhand am brilliant and decided not to seek a nomination or stand on my record

Yes, they should be allowed vote.
It is with responibility that we acheive maturity and experience.
The 16 year olds who don’t give a damn won’t vote anyways but the same can be said for every age demographic.
And yes perhaps the first time 16 year olds vote it could be just the novelty but at least they are voting -unlike the 30% of adults who complain about what happens after not even registering their opinion- it’s forming good political habits.
If 16 year olds can pay taxes, they should have a say in how they are being spent. One should not be able to work without being able to have a say in workplace rights. No taxation without represantation!
At the end of the day Voting@16 is a small but very important part of the bigger picture – Reforming and modernising the voting system. We need to work at making the elections more accessible, it is unfair to speak ill of the 18-25 year olds who don’t vote because they are not given proper opportunity to do so. They may be at college or working away from home and to host the elections on a thursday makes it impossible to juggle lectures and assignments and somehow magically appear home to vote.
If the problem is lack of information well help with the campaign to inform us and it is not our demographic who has been voting for parties simply because we always have our because our family is a certain party family. We didn’t vote us into the mess we’re in, nor did we spend money we didn’t have on things not worht what we paid.
As for the patronising comments about youths being unable to comb their hair, those comments are disciminatory, ageist and quite frankly bullying.

Yeah we a lot of young people here.I think them alone would vote out the lot in power.So they wont let them get a vote for sure.

No taxation without representation.

young people at 16/17can pay taxes if they have a part-time job, can join the army and leave home if desired so why shouldnt we be able to vote. everything that is being decided in the dail will affect us now or in the future and we cant decide who makes these life changing decisions ?? nonsense

I think so they are well informed in current affairs through education and media

No taxation without (mis)representation.

Most of my 18 year olds friends haven’t a clue about politics. They wouldn’t be able to name 5 members of the cabinet. Not sure that’s very different from most adults though.

Look at why most people vote FG/FF/SF/Lab…….because their parents voted that way. Or they voted for FG because they ‘weren’t FF’

I think people should have to past some sort of economic/political test before getting a vote. But then again, the law of large numbers means that ignorance of what one is actually voting for will cancel itself out….

Stop undermining 16yr olds.
The law and government states they are old enough to consent to sex so along with that it makes perfect sense and logic to allow them to vote on matters concerning the country they live in.

Of course they should vote! Right after they tidy their bedrooms ! :)

No. While there are many informed young people, there are far more who are still in the typical teen state of mind – they couldn’t give a shite about politics, nor do they understand it. I certainly wasn’t informed, or interested enough in politics at that age to be able to vote… neither were most of my friends (there were a couple who were big into it, but they were a definite minority). We view 18 as the first point of adulthood, and the fate of the nation should be decided by adults. If 16 year olds join in on the voting process, you can be sure that a great deal of them would just vote the same way as their parents.

Perhaps allowing teenagers to vote for the board of the National Youth Council of Ireland would be a good start.

The board seems a ridiculously unrepresentative publicly funded quango which attempts to justify it’s existence by launching campaigns such as the above.

Forget about the age people should be to vote. It would be more important to consider an IQ threshold before people are allowed vote. Populist bullshit has destroyed the decision making process in this country. Whatever agenda Joe Duffy comes up with seems to be the one that garners consideration. Pathetic!

16 year olds should get a chance to vote! They don’t have to vote if the voting age is lowering and the informed youth who have an interest in politics will be able to contribute new and fresh ideas to the electoral process. For all we know it could lead to a total shake up of the political system in Ireland and help replace old and worn out politicians with innovative and young politicians! Why should young people at the age of 16 have to pay adult prices on buses, trains and planes? Why should we be allowed to face trial as adults in a criminal court? Why should we pay taxes (in the form of VAT)? And yet we aren’t allowed to have the responsibility to vote on who makes decisions regarding OUR future!

I voted yes although I do believe that the age for eligibility for voting should be consistent with the age of consent in this jurisdiction. Suggest lowering the age of consent or lowering the eligibility age to 17 from 18.

Maybe we should just give the ole fascism a go…let all the corporations/imf etc. rule the country, regardless of who we vote for…oh hang on, that’s already how things are…

The age should be raised to 17yrs

keep it at 18…otherwise all the Jedward fans will vote for the ‘coooolest’ candidate

Yes as long as they are not in school. If they are working or learning a trade then they should have the right to vote. If they are still in school then no. They could become targets for political parties who would shove their ideologies on them through the teachers.

When I was 17 I was asked to take part in this campaign (3 years ago, so this is not a new issue at the NYCI). I said no at the time – even though I was interested in the political discourse (as was evident insofar as I was very involved with youth politics, with the NYCI themselves, the OMCYA (office of the minister for children and youth affairs) and perhaps most importantly the steering committee of the National office for suicide prevention).

I said no for 2 reasons. Firstly, as I was experiencing, there are, contrary to common belief, plenty of ways for young people to get involved in ‘politics’. Secondly, I had just turned 17, and resultantly had a lot of friends who were 16/17. Yes, i was interested, but most of them weren’t. So in the interest of damage control, I opposed the campaign.

I think it’s wrong to afford a particular demographic an opportunity to vote in the knowledge that the majority of said demographic have no interest in making an informed decision.

I would still stand by a ‘no’ vote to this motion. People have plenty of adult years to watch those they voted for throw their money and disappoint them with lies.

what a scary thought and before anyone jumps down my throat I am the mother of a 16 year old.

NO! only legal adults should be allowed vote, end of story.

Dear Journal, here’s a way better poll….”should the age you legally qualify as an adult be lowered from 18 to 16?” I’d liked to read the comments and see the results from that poll.

No because at that age they lack sufficient experience of life and particularly of economic life. I was very leftwing at that age and as I grew in understanding of the realities of Big Government and how it crippled the Irish economy for decades by strangling competition and punishing wealth-creation I came to realise I was wrong.

Put all the 16 year old boys into the Hitler Youth and all the 16 year old girls into the League of German girls I say. Never did me any harm!!! Yours Brigadier General Swartzkopff. [Mrs]

Christ only the 15% of the population interested at that age of there life are going to vote anyway.. Get some common sense, i don’t see and now don’t get me wrong, i could be wrong a load of scoobies taking time off from mugging grandmothers and drinking can’s in the park to go vote, but you know what there will be a few who will if they do then they will have greater maturity, because of it. Teenager’s are children, because of hormones and because they are treated like children by anyone who manage to get to the age of 18 or 25 or 40 or 80. Just because you managed to get to a certain age doesn’t make you anymore capable or smarter than anyone esle that’s younger. Christ i have 18 year olds who’s opinion i’d respect more than many 40 year olds. You got to a certain age get over it!