Age-old debate rears its head in race for the Áras

“MARY must be seen on the move.” This was one of the key pieces of advice in a document of planning for Mary Robinson’s presidential campaign 21 years ago.

Her team put forward an image of a “working president” in an effort to win a place in the Áras that had for so long been seen as a retirement home for older politicians.

And so we were presented with images of an energetic woman meeting young people by graffiti-stained walls in troubled housing estates, walking with locals along stone roads of Inishmore and rolling up her sleeves to help out in a Dublin creche.

Her energy, zest and sense of adventure could not be matched by her rivals, who had more often been photographed shaking hands with other men in suits.

After setting a pace for the campaign that her biggest opponent Brian Lenihan could not match, at 48 years old, she became the youngest President of Ireland.

And so, this year’s Labour candidate, Michael D Higgins, has been at pains to point out that he has travelled 23,000 kilometres around the country since May and furthermore, has visited remote parts of Colombia in an effort to show that age should not be a barrier to becoming president.

And so far he has succeeded at casting aside prejudices about age and showing that being 70 does not prevent him from continuing to contribute to Irish public life.

Michael D’s mileage wouldn’t matter so much only for the experienced politician knows that, at 70, some voters might not think he has the energy required to carry out the job.

It’s not surprising that, in the world of politics filled with images of Barack Obama shooting hoops and David Cameron out jogging, age has become a central issue in the Irish presidential campaign.

While Michael D said this week that suggestions that he was treating the presidency as a retirement home were “very unfair” he himself put the age issue on the table during a Prime Time interview.

At the launch of his campaign this week, he handled the age question with humour, saying: “Well, there’s not much I can do about it!”.

He said he was “very much looking forward to an energetic and vigorous campaign” and that what mattered was “not the years in the life, but the life in the years”.

At another event at the Silver Surf awards this week, he pointed out in his speech that: “Picasso painted his best works at the age of 80 and Trapattoni has no problem keeping up with the lads at 72!”

The Labour candidate will please many older voters by focusing on the benefits of his age, indicating he has more experience than the other candidates and that he would bring his “life services to the people of Ireland”.

It was reminiscent of the approach of Ronald Reagan during the 1984 campaign when his poor answers during the first presidential debate prompted the Wall Street Journal to ask: “Was the president of the United States facing senility?”

In the next debate the 73-year-old diffused the issue and showed his sharp wit by declaring: “I will not hold my opponent’s youth and inexperience against him.”

The suggestion is that while it is both politically incorrect and impolite to judge an older person on their age, it has become okay to dismiss younger people for their youth.

And this is a feature of the Irish presidential campaign. The entry of older candidates as well as discussion of others running — including Gay Byrne, 77, and Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, 80, showed that age should not be a barrier.

But the 35-year-old limit for entering the race, as dictated by the Constitution, means it still remains closed off to an important demographic of this country.

Now that the race has been opened up to independent candidates through the county council route, it seems no longer as elitist and exclusive as it once was.

But one of the greatest barriers now remaining in the presidency is that you must be almost twice the age at which a person can vote, in order to be a candidate.

Ireland has the youngest population in Europe, and under-35s are more likely to be effected by the issues such as emigration and lack of opportunity which have become central to this campaign.

It has been argued, in the case of the US, where the age limit is also 35, that anyone younger than that would not have the maturity and experience required for the office.

In the Irish case, the level of decision-making and crisis management is no where near as intense in what is a vastly different role to the US presidency. And previous holders of the office show that a long spell in parliamentary politics is not a requirement to fulfil the role successfully.

There are many under-35s who spring to mind who would have the maturity, the popularity and the leadership qualities required for the role.

We only look at our rugby players: Paul O’Connell — a 31-year-old who has inspired thousands of Irish people, young and old. A motivating speaker who sent shivers down the spines of television viewers when one of his dressing room team talks was broadcast for a fly-on-the-wall documentary.

Despite being under 35, he is intelligent, well-spoken, well-travelled and educated and if he can handle the pressure against England in a historic game in Croke Park, then surely he would be as capable as Dana or Gay Byrne to refer a bill to the Supreme Court on the advice of the counsel of state.

Some would argue that he could do more for the Irish people on the rugby field than he could ever do in the Áras, but he is just one example that being young, like being old, should not define your ability to do the job.

The under-35s left in the country, those who have not taken the plane to Australia or Canada, are as entitled as anyone else legally allowed to vote, to run for presidential office.

At a cost of €250,000 a year, the electorate is entitled to question older candidates about their energy to hold office, without being accused of ageism. But the public must also be entitled to question the real ageism in the presidential process.

If reform of the entry process for the presidency is to be properly looked at in the future, the bar on under-35s must be top of the list.

Because any political process in which a large section of the population is limited in their participation is not a fully representative one.