Only 26% of students voted in EU polls

Ireland’s young people are increasingly disenchanted with politics, with little more than a quarter of students turning out to vote in the European Parliament elections.

While the 52% turnout in Ireland was up slightly on the previous election in 2009, the number of young people voting fell by close to a third to just 26%.

The numbers saying they didn’t vote because they were not interested in politics doubled in the past five years and was now the fifth highest in the EU.