‘Frustrated’ youth still favour treaty

YOUNG people have voted slightly in favour of passing the Lisbon Treaty in anonline poll, but are frustrated with the political process and the debate ahead of tomorrow’s referendum.

The findings emerged from a SpunOut.ie national youth charity poll in which 1,350 people had voted up to Tuesday afternoon.

While 3.33% of voters indicated they had not decided what way they will vote, and 4.4% said they don’t understand the issues, among the remainder in the poll carried out through social networking website Facebook, 50.7% said they would vote Yes and 41.6% said they would vote No.

Taking those whose voting intentions were clear, it emerges that the Yes side is victorious by a margin of almost 10% – 54.9% to 45.1%. The outcome may be encouraging to those campaigning for ratification, given that research after last year’s rejection of Lisbon found that 57% of 18 to 34-year-olds voted No.

However, SpunOut.ie said it remains to be seen if young people will turn out in high numbers to vote, even though there are around 500,000 people aged between 18 and 25.

“Young people are telling us they are fed up with the tired ideas and faces from both sides of the debate. They have issues around the lack of clear information, the manner in which each side is campaigning and the fact that, despite the huge potential of young people to decide the outcome, few politicians or parties connect with them in any meaningful way,” said Susan Quirke of SpunOut.ie.

Although the poll suggests a close race, she said No supporters have been most vocal on the SpunOut.ie website, with comments ranging from analysis of Lisbon and privatisation, militarism and independence to a general belief that the Yes side is overwhelmingly more resourced and visible.

The Union of Students in Ireland has urged students to use their democratic right to vote, being the first opportunity for many of those attending third level colleges.

“We urge all students to examine all of the referendum material and make an informed decision on the day,” said USI president Peter Mannion.