Vote at 16 campaign meets European counterparts to further issue

The event is being held against the background of the inclusion in the revised Programme for Government, which requires the Independent Electoral Commission to make recommendations within 12 months on the introduction of a vote for 16 and 17 year olds in local elections. This is the first time that Government has formally committed to addressing this issue. In light of this positive development NYCI will be discussing how best to engage with the Electoral Commission and the next steps for the campaign.

“We are very pleased with the progress made on this issue since we launched our campaign last January. The inclusion of this issue in the revised Programme for Government and the commitment that the Electoral Commission must report and make recommendations on a vote at 16 in local elections within a year is very positive. However, despite the support from many quarters, there is still resistance to extending the vote, so we must continue to work, campaign and engage with the Electoral Commission in the coming months,” stated James Doorley, Assistant Director at the National Youth Council of Ireland.

“This meeting will allow us to learn from the experiences in other EU countries. We believe that this is not just a simple issue of granting the vote or not, there is a great opportunity here to build in other measures to promote and support democracy among young people when the voting aging is extended. This meeting will also allow us to take stock of the campaign to date and plan our actions for the upcoming year,” concluded Mr. Doorley.

The international experts at the meeting will be presenting recent developments on the issue in their countries. Benedikt Walzel will outline the Austrian experience where 16 & 17 year olds were given a vote and took part in the Federal Election last year. In the UK Jonathan Pyke and his colleagues have been campaigning for a number of years to extend voting rights to 16 and 17 year olds which resulted in the formation of an expert group which he will be giving feedback on. We will also be hearing from Michael Hedelund from Denmark who will be informing the group of their work at local level to promote the vote at 16. In addition, representatives from the European Parliament and the European Youth Forum will brief guests on the progress being made at EU level.

ENDS

For further information, please contact Clodagh O’Brien, Communications Officer at NYCI on 087 781 4903 or 01 425 5955 or email communications@nyci.ie

Notes to Editors:

National Youth Council of Ireland

The National Youth Council of Ireland is a membership-led umbrella organisation that represents and supports the interests of 55 voluntary youth organisations and uses its collective experience to act on issues that impact on young people.