Speaking after the Seanad debate, James Doorley, NYCI Deputy Director said:
“We are disappointed that the Bill to extend voting rights to those aged 16 and 17 has been defeated, after it was opposed by government and Fianna Fáil abstained.
“We note that it was a close vote – only narrowly defeated by 18 to 15 – so this is by no means the end of the road for the campaign.
“In fact, votes at 16 is part of a wider European and international trend, with many countries extending the franchise. Most recently Malta and Scotland successfully extended the vote to those aged 16 and over, so we see it as very much a case of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ this right will be introduced in Ireland.
“We’d like to thank all of those involved in the campaign to date and will now regroup and continue to work towards strengthening our democracy by extending the vote to 16 and 17 year olds. We would like to extend thanks Senators Fintan Warfield and Lynn Ruane for sponsoring the Bill, and also to the young people who campaigned on line and in person in the run up to this debate, especially Vanessa Mulhall and Paul Dockerty who spoke out for the campaign on local radio stations up and down the country in favour of the campaign,” concluded Mr Doorley.
ENDS
For further information, please contact Daniel Meister, Communications Manager at NYCI on 087 781 4903 or 01 425 5955 or email communications@nyci.ie
CSO: Number of young people aged 16 and 17 in 2019 (based on Census 2016) File E3003.
**See County by county breakdown below**
Notes to Editors
National Youth Council of Ireland
The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) is a membership-led umbrella organisation that represents and supports the interests of voluntary youth organisations and uses its collective experience to act on issues that impact on young people.
County by county breakdown:
